Finding Goku
by Gogirl
Summary: Chi-Chi dies and crosses over to Other World in the hopes of finally being with Goku. However, it's not going to be as easy as she likes...
1. Part One

Disclaimer: Dragonball Z belongs to Akira Toryama. I don't own a thing. The title, as you may guess, is also derived from the movie _Finding Nemo_.

Author's Note: This fic takes place after the end of DBZ and doesn't follow GT in any way, because let's face it, GT wasn't DBZ since it wasn't created by Akira Toryama. I first got inspired for this when Chi-Chi died in the Majin Buu saga. Since she was on another planet, she wouldn't get to be with Goku, which isn't fair. I think Chi-Chi would want to be with Goku in the afterlife, and being the obstinate character she is, she wouldn't stop until she achieved this goal. Add a few other factors, such as my _Finding Nemo_ obsession, my dislike of GT, a myth I read in school called _The Ramayana _(which will apply in later chapters), and you've got yourself a plot bunny! :) 

I t took me a long time to get the plot of this story straight, since I kept getting all sorts of ideas. I hope the final result is a good story. Please read and review; I would once again like to reply to all reviewers with each proceeding chapter. Okay, enough said, let's get this show on the road!

Finding Goku

Part One

The time had come and she knew it. She wasn't ill and was in very good shape for her age, but she knew that it was going to happen. Since the moment she woke up in the morning, there had been a strange, tingling feeling in her heart that told her told her that this was the day.

She was going to die.

Chi-Chi was sitting by her bedroom window. Spring was it its splendor today. The sun was shining bright and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. She could birds singing in the trees nearby her house.

This was something she had done a lot these days. She would sit by the window, lost in her own thoughts. Sometimes she would think of her sons, who were both grown up and living lives of their own. Sometimes she would think of life, which certainly didn't turn out the way she expected it to be.

But mostly, she just thought of him.

She wasn't afraid to die. After all, she was very old. Age had caught up with her, turning her once black hair gray and marring her skin with wrinkles. She had lived a long life --- _too _long, it sometimes seemed.

Besides, it was almost a relief for her. For she had been dying a little bit each day without him. Very soon now, she would see him again.

Chi-Chi sighed. The Son family and others closest to him had felt his death that fateful morning, many years ago…

_It started out as a normal day. Chi-Chi was washing dishes while Goten was eating breakfast. Several weeks had passed since Goku's last visit, and the two of them were wondering when he'd be back next._

Chi-Chi bit her lip, thinking about her husband. He just left to train with Uub without so much as a good-bye, and now she only saw him every so often these days. She understood why he had done it. After all, he and Vegeta wouldn't be around forever; he had to be sure someone would be around to protect the Earth when they were gone…

Yet it still hurt her. She loved him and had married to him too long to ever doubt that he loved her back, but it made her so angry how he'd just come and go whenever he pleased. 

Still, she survived. She kept those sad, bitter feelings hidden inside of her and went along with life as usual. And whenever he came back, she welcomed him with open arms. Until the day he would return for good, she contented herself with the time she had with him.

Besides, she still had the rest of her family: Goten, Gohan, Videl, Pan, and her friends...she loved them and enjoyed the frequent times when they were all together…

Suddenly, she froze. The plate she had been washing slipped from her limp fingers and dropped to the floor, instantly shattering to pieces. She put a hand over her heart, which was twisting in pain.

That feeling --- she had felt it before…only it couldn't be, it wasn't possible…

"Mom?" Goten asked in alarm. She turned to look at her son. He stood up from his chair, pale and wide-eyed. He looked more upset than she had seen him look in years.

"What?" she asked fearfully. "What is it?"

Goten swallowed and closed his eyes. "Something's happened. I-I can't feel Dad's ki…"

Chi-Chi paled. "You can't?! Are you sure?"

Goten tried to concentrate on finding his father's ki. "Positive," he said finally. "I can't feel him anywhere on the planet."

"Then does that mean…?"

"I don't know. I better call Gohan." He raced to the phone and dialed Gohan's home. "Hello, Gohan? Did you feel it too?" He paused to listen. "I don't understand…what could have happened?" 

Another pause. "You're right. We'd better go see Vegeta."

He hung up the phone, his expression grim. "Let's go," he told his mother shortly. 

The two of them walked out of the house. Goten picked up his mother and flew off. Moments later, they met Gohan, Videl, and Pan in midair. Together, they flew off to Capsule Corporation.

Once they had arrived, they quickly went into the gravity room, where Vegeta was leaning against the wall, his arms folded against his chest and his eyes closed.

"I'd thought you'd come here as soon as you sensed it," was the Saiyan Prince's greeting.

"Then…is it true?" Gohan faltered.

Vegeta nodded. "Yes," he said quietly. "Kakarot is dead."

The Son family stared at him, numb with shock. Chi-Chi starting shaking her head in denial. "No…no, it can't be true!" she cried. 

"How could this have happened?" Gohan demanded. " Don't Saiyans live longer than humans?"

"Of course they do!" Vegeta barked. "Don't be an idiot! Kakarot couldn't have just dropped dead of natural causes! He was probably killed!"

"That doesn't make any sense!" Gohan protested. "Everything's been peaceful since the battle with Majin Buu! It would have taken someone with an enormous power to kill him."

"Right," Goten agreed. "And we haven't sensed any kis like that since Buu."

Vegeta gave him a hard stare. "Oh? And how would you know? You've been slacking in your training for the past twelve years. But I haven't sensed any particular strong kis either."

"Then what else could have happened?" Goten asked angrily.

Vegeta shrugged. "Perhaps Kakarot wasn't as strong as he used to be."

"You take that back!" Pan yelled, her little face screwed up with grief and anger. "My grandpa's the strongest guy in the world! He wouldn't have just lost like that!"

"Maybe he got sick again," Gohan said suddenly. "In the mirai timeline, he died of the heart virus…"

"No, he couldn't have!" Chi-Chi said, shaking her head. "He was here just a few weeks ago and he was fine!"

Pan covered her ears. "Stop it!" she screamed. "It isn't true! Grandpa's not dead!"

"Honey, I'm sorry, but he is," Videl said softly, putting her arms around her. "We all felt it…"

"He can't be!" Pan sobbed, wrenching herself out of her mother's grasp. "He can't be! He said that he'd be back! He said that he'd be back…" She dissolved into tears.

Gohan and Videl tried to comfort their daughter, although they didn't look too well themselves. Gohan looked as though he were about to break down. Goten was staring hard at the wall, his eyes moist. Vegeta simply just stood where he was. If he was in any way affected by Goku's death, he certainly wasn't about to show it.

Chi-Chi just stood off to the side, watching them all. Hot tears welled in her eyes and streamed down her face. **Oh Goku, you didn't even say good-bye! **she thought bitterly.

A few days after Goku's death, Uub came to express his condolences. He had no idea what happened to him either. According to him, Goku left the day before --- in perfect health --- to see his family again. He never came back.

There had been no grave for him; they didn't have a body to bury. Even if they had known where he had died, chances were he would have been able to keep his body and cross over to Other World.

Everyone mourned him, but Chi-Chi missed him most of all. How could she not? He was her husband, the father of her children --- he was everything to her. The old bitterness of his absences had gradually faded into acceptance. She knew he thought he'd been doing what was right.

But she would have given _anything_ to have him with her now: to hold him, to kiss him, to tell him that she loved him, and to grow old with him. Okay, so he probably wouldn't have aged along with her since Saiyans could keep their youthful appearances for many years.

_If he could only see me now, _Chi-Chi thought sadly, _as a withered old woman. I'll be he wouldn't have recognized me. _

Not a moment passed by when she didn't think of him. He was a constant visitor in her dreams and memories. A part of her still couldn't believe that he was permanently dead. Even when she thought he had died for good in the Cell games, he returned seven years later. Surely, this time wouldn't be any different…

Only that was wishful thinking on her part. He'd been dead for twenty-five years now. He wasn't coming back. So all she could do was wait for the day when she could be with him.

And at last that day had come.

She heard footsteps enter the house. Goten was home. Slowly, she got up from her chair and walked out of her room to meet him.

The death of his father caused a profound change in her youngest son. He took up martial arts again, and trained even harder than ever to make up for how long he'd slacked off. He still hadn't settled down and had a family like his mother wanted him to. He still lived with his mother to take care of her, but he was hardly home most of the time. Often he was training with Pan and Uub, both of whom had been training equally as hard. 

Chi-Chi couldn't help but smile. Goku would have been proud. The three of them were a very strong team, and they would be more than ready to protect the earth from any enemy that would threaten it in the future.

"Mom?" Goten's voice called out. "I'm home!"

Chi-Chi entered the kitchen, and beamed at her son. "Hi, Go ---"

She froze. The tingling sensation was growing stronger by the minute. Her knees buckled and she collapsed.

Luckily, Goten caught her before she hit the ground. "Mom!" he cried. "Mom, what's wrong?"

"I… I'm fine," Chi-Chi whispered. She wasn't going to go --- not yet at least. She had to say good-bye first. "I… just need to lie down…"

Goten carried his mother back to the room and laid her down on the bed. He bent over her, worried. "Do you want me to call a doctor?"

Chi-Chi shook her head weakly. "No… there's nothing wrong with me, Goten. It's just my time…"

"What?" Goten asked, confused. His eyes widened with shock as he registered the meaning of her words. "No… _no!_ Don't talk like this, you're going to be fine!"

"It's all right, honey," she assured him. "Come on, I want you to sit with me…"

He sat down on the bed and took her right hand. "You're gonna be okay," he kept saying, his voice trembling. His eyes were growing bright, as though he was about to cry. "You're strong… you're gonna make it…"

Chi-Chi smiled and squeezed his hand lovingly. "It's okay, Goten. I've lived a long life. I don't have any regrets…"

"But I need you!" Goten cried desperately. "We _all_ do! You can't go!"

"You don't… need me anymore," she said gently. "You and your brother can take care of yourselves. I'm so… so proud of you…"

It was getting harder for her to breathe. Her thoughts were fuzzy, like they were just before sleep. The room started to darken, even though it was early afternoon. Gathering her remaining strength, she forced herself to focus on her son's face.

"I'm proud of you," she repeated in a slightly stronger voice. "_Both_ of you. I know I didn't say it much, but I was. I always have. I always will be…"

"Stay with me, Mom!" he pleaded. "At least wait for me to get Gohan and the others!"

"I'm sorry… I can't," she said faintly. Her words were starting to slur in her mouth. "I love you. Tell your brother… I love him… And Pan and Videl… tell them that I love them too…"

Tears started to fall down her son's face. "I will," he promised. He kissed her hand. "I love you too. Say hi to Dad for us."

"I will."

She pulled Goten a little closer to her so that he could hold her. He buried his face into her shoulder, something he hadn't done since he was a little boy. She could feel tears dripping onto her.

For once, Chi-Chi wasn't worried. Her loved ones would be all right without her; they would take care of each other. She only wished she could have seen Gohan one more time… no matter. Life wasn't forever. She would see both him and Goten again someday.

Her thoughts once more returned to Goku. She smiled to herself. _I'll be seeing you soon, Goku. Wait for me…_

She felt truly at peace as she allowed the cold darkness to carry her away.

***

Goten felt his mother's body go limp in his arms. He pulled back and saw that her eyes were closed. He squeezed her wrist, trying to find a pulse. There was none. She was gone.

"Good-bye… Momma," he whispered, placing a kiss on her forehead. He laid her back down on the bed. More tears fell from his eyes, and he didn't bother to wipe them away. 

Ever since he was little, he and his mother had always shared a close relationship. She had managed to overcome the grief of losing his father and raised him for the first seven years of his life. She even trained him so that he could fight like his father. She had always been the one to take care of everybody… and now she was gone.

Yet in spite of his grief, he found bittersweet comfort. It had been a fairly painless death. The serene expression on her face that told him that she was finally at peace. He hoped that she would join his father in Other World --- it was what she always wanted.

He stood up. He had to go break the news to Gohan and his family, though they had probably already sensed her death…

He glanced back at the bed. "What the ---?" he gasped.

The body had disappeared.

To be continued…


	2. Part Two

Author's Note: Before I begin, it has been a very long time since I saw the DBZ episodes when Goku was on the Grand Kai's planet, so I'm sorry if the details are wrong.

Part Two

Chi-Chi opened her eyes and found she was standing in a line leading up to a giant temple with a large "Welcome" sign on it. Yellow clouds surrounded everything in sight.

For a moment, she didn't know where she was or how she got there. Then she remembered: she had died. She must be in Other World. Of course, this wasn't her first time there; after all, Majin Buu had killed her a long time ago, but she had only been dead for a short period of time. This time she wouldn't be coming back to life.

It didn't seem so bad to her. In fact, she felt better than she had felt in a long time --- both emotionally and physically. She didn't feel old or tired anymore; instead she felt light, free, and energetic like she had been as a young girl.

She looked at the people standing in front of her in the line. To her surprise, they weren't people at all; they looked like little white puffs of smoke.

__

They're spirits, Chi-Chi remembered. _They look so strange! Oh well, not everyone gets to keep their body like Goku did. I probably look just like them… _

At that thought, she looked down at herself, expecting to see another puff of smoke. She gasped in shock. "I still have my body!"

Only it wasn't the same body that she had died in. She ran her hands over her arms wonder. The skin was no longer loose or dry, but smooth and toned. All the wrinkles had vanished. She lifted the skirt of her dress slightly to see her legs, which were in the same youthful condition. Her body hadn't been in this good shape since she had gotten pregnant with Gohan. 

She touched her face and only felt unblemished skin. She grabbed several strands of her long hair, which were no longer gray but black. She looked up and saw a halo hovering over her head, just like Goku had when he had been dead.

"Unbelievable!" she muttered aloud. "This is so strange… I'm young again! But how?" She didn't keep her body the first time she had died. Then again, she had been turned into an egg and crushed to death. Maybe she hadn't been able to keep her body because they couldn't restore it in Other World…

Oh well. It didn't matter to her. If she had been an old woman or just a spirit, it would have made her plans to be with Goku a little difficult.

Chi-Chi grinned. "I'm young again!" she exclaimed, twirling around happily. "Wait till Goku sees me!"

"Hey, lady, move it!" a tiny voice yelled rudely. One of the spirits was floating behind her. "You're holding up the line!"

Chi-Chi glanced in the direction of the temple. The line was moving fast. She went red with embarrassment. "Oops, sorry!" she said, and quickly moved up to her place in line.

Nearly ten minutes later, she found herself in front of a huge desk occupied by an even larger man. This, she knew, was King Yemma.

King Yemma peered down on her. "Son Chi-Chi?"

Chi-Chi nodded.

He looked at the book he had in front of them. "You're the wife of Son Goku, the mother of two sons," he read. "Well, according to this, you've been a good person during your life. That means you can keep your body. Since you can't age once you're dead, you've been rejuvenated. I thought you'd like that, since your husband never ages anyway," he added. 

King Yemma looked up from his book. "Since your record is clean, you can stay on the planet where good people stay. You're officially checked in. Welcome to Other World!"

"Thank you," Chi-Chi replied. She turned to leave, but then stopped. "Wait --- one more thing --- can you tell me where Goku is?"

King Yemma paged through his book. "Son Goku… Son Goku… He's died so many times he ought to be a medical miracle!" he muttered. "Ah, here he is. Died twenty-five years ago…"

"Of what?" Chi-Chi wanted to know. "We all felt him die, only we never really found out how."

King Yemma frowned. "I'm not really sure," he said quietly. "There's no illnesses or cause of death listed under his name…" He thought hard. "Come to think of it, I remember when he arrived. _He_ didn't even know how he died."

"What?" Chi-Chi asked, perplexed.

"It was all very strange," King Yemma said slowly. "It was so sudden… it was almost as though he just --- stopped living."

Chi-Chi shook her head. "That can't be right."

"Well, whatever happened to him, he didn't make a big fuss about it," King Yemma said shortly. "He wasn't planning on dying again, but he just accepted it and went on."

"That's sounds about right," Chi-Chi sighed. _He never lets anything bother him, _she thought privately.

"Now if you don't mind, there are other spirits in line," King Yemma said, very businesslike.

"Oh, of course… but can you tell me where he is?" she asked eagerly.

"He's probably on the Grand Kai's planet," King Yemma replied impatiently. "That's where he was heading."

Chi-Chi thanked him again and left. _How could he not know how Goku died? _she wondered. _How could he have died **at all**? He wasn't in a fight, he wasn't old, and he was in perfect health! People don't just drop dead like that. Something had to have happened --- but what?_

She calmed down. Figuring out why he died wasn't important at the moment. Right now, the only thing she wanted to do was find Goku…

Halfway from the temple, she stopped dead in her tracks. King Yemma had told her that she was supposed to stay at the good people's planet from now on. But Goku wasn't staying there; he was at the Grand Kai's planet!

This made her angry. It wasn't fair! She had waited her entire life to see him again --- only to find out that she wasn't going to stay in the same place he was!

__

Just my luck, Chi-Chi thought bitterly. _I can't even be with Goku when I'm dead! Don't I have the right to be with my own husband?_

Suddenly, she got an idea. _King Yemma never said I **couldn't **go to Grand Kai's planet._ _Who says I can't go there? I was a fighter for a while… I only quit because I had Gohan. And I trained Goten when he was old enough to fight until Goku came back. That should count for **something**._

Why not? she thought determinedly. _I don't care where King Yemma told me told me to go. I'm going to Grand Kai's planet! Goku won't mind having me there. I don't have to worry about taking care of Gohan and Goten anymore and I'm young again; I'm more than able to train. And as long as I'm with Goku, I'll be happy._

***

Chi-Chi was surprised how much Other World was like Earth. It was almost like a city in the clouds; it reminded her so much of Earth that she nearly felt like she had never died at all.

She boarded a plane that was headed for the Grand Kai's planet. She settled back in her seat as the plane took off in the sea of yellow clouds.

Excitement and anxiety filled her heart. After twenty-five years, she was finally going to see Goku again! He probably hadn't changed at all since the last time she had seen him…

__

I wonder if he's thought of me as much as I've thought of him, she mused, gazing out the window. _It's been so long…maybe he won't even recognize me. Oh, don't be silly, Chi-Chi. Just because you look different than the last time he saw you, doesn't mean he won't recognize you._

These weren't unfamiliar thoughts. Chi-Chi had them on the way to the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, in the hopes that he'd fulfill his promise to marry her. It had upset her that after all that anticipation, he hadn't even recognized her. Then again, he hadn't seen her since she was a little girl, so it was understandable.

She also had thought all this on the way to the Tournament eighteen years later, when Goku came back to life for a day. That time, he _had_ recognized her and greeted her warmly, telling her that he missed her… then he met Goten for the very first time…

She wondered what she was going to say to Goku once she met him on Grand Kai's planet. It was strange; every time she was preparing to see Goku again, so many possible things to say kept popping up in her mind that she never knew what to say first.

Yet when she came face to face with him again, she somehow found the right things to say at that moment, and the same went for Goku.

They would have so much to talk about… Chi-Chi knew that things hadn't been perfect between the two of them before they died. She hadn't really told him entirely how she felt about him going off to train Uub. By the time Goku had first visited his family, a few weeks after his departure, the hurt and anger she had felt had lessened, and she acted like nothing was wrong. She had gradually come to some sort of understanding about why he had done it…

Yet she was a little distant with him. She thought that Goku might have noticed this, in spite of his naiveté and might have been hurt by it, but she couldn't help it. The closer they were on each visit, the harder it was for her to let him go.

Well, that was all in the past now. If everything went right, she was sure that she would never have to be separated from him again. Once she saw him again, she would welcome him with open, loving arms.

She was sure that Goku would want to know how everyone was doing and how strong Goten, Uub, and Pan were getting. 

__

I hope he's been okay, she thought, staring at the window. _Oh, of course he has; he can take care of himself… but if he can take care of himself, then how could he have just died?_

Upon that thought, her mind returned to the subject of his death. King Yemma had told her that even Goku didn't know how he had died. How could that be so? Only two things ever caused him to die: some new enemy and that heart virus from the mirai timeline.

Goku was the strongest fighter in the world; he wouldn't have gone down without a fight. If it had been a huge battle, Gohan, Goten, and Vegeta would have surely sensed it. Yet they didn't sense anything except his death.

__

It doesn't matter now, Chi-Chi told herself firmly. _He shouldn't have died like that, but there's nothing you can do to change it. He's in Other World now, and soon I'll be with him again. We can figure this out later…_

Some time later, the plane arrived at the Grand Kai's planet. Chi-Chi got off the plane and looked around in wonder. The planet was beautiful… very similar to the good people's planet she had been on before. There had numerous mountains, lakes, and all sorts of things she would have normally seen on Earth… except the sky was pink.

After walking a little ways, she saw a large castle in front of her. She automatically knew it had to be the Grand Kai's place. She heard voices coming from the backyard.

_Everybody must be back there, _Chi-Chi thought excitedly. _Goku's just right around that corner!_

"All right," she murmured, taking a deep breath. "This is it. I hope he's happy to see me…"

She hurried to the backyard. Millions of warriors were gathered there. Some of them appeared to be human, but Chi-Chi knew from experience that there were aliens that could look humans. Some were sparring with each other, while others were chatting off to the side.

_Goku must love it here, _she thought in awe.

She wandered through the crowd, searching for a familiar spiky, black-haired head. It didn't take long for her excitement to turn into confusion.

Goku was nowhere to be found.

_Maybe he's inside, _she thought, glancing at the big castle. _If he isn't training, he's usually stuffing his face. But that makes no sense; there's a buffet table right here…_

She approached a particular fighter with green skin and turban. His strange appearance strongly reminded her of Piccolo --- except he didn't have a nose and pointy ears.

"Excuse me," she said politely, "but could you tell where Goku is?"

"Son Goku?" The fighter frowned. "He isn't here."

Chi-Chi's heart slipped several notches down her stomach. "What do you mean he's not here?" she asked incredulously. "Of course he's here!"

"I'm sorry, but he isn't," the fighter replied. "He _was _here, but he was brought back to life thirty-five years ago."

"Yes, he was, but he died again!" Chi-Chi insisted, beginning to get frustrated. 

The fighter shook his head. "You must be mistaking him for someone else."

"No, I'm not!" Chi-Chi shouted furiously. "I'm Goku's wife! My sons and I felt him die years ago! Where is he?"

"What's all the shouting about?" a nearby voice asked. Chi-Chi turned around to see a short, blue creature with sunglasses walk towards them. "Who are you talking to, Pikkon?" it asked the green fighter.

"She says that she's Goku's wife," Pikkon said, indicating Chi-Chi.

The blue creature gaped at her. "Hold on --- are you Chi-Chi?"

"Yes, I am," Chi-Chi replied, staring back at him. Looking at his antennas and round sunglasses, she realized who he was. "Are you King Kai?"

"Sure am," King Kai replied. "So you're Goku's wife… I always wondered what kind of woman he got married to."

Chi-Chi beamed. "Yes, Goku told me so much about you. He said you tell the worst jokes…"

King Kai glared. "Humph! Well that certainly sounds like Goku," he said sullenly. "How is the Saiyan Trash Disposal, by the way?"

"That's just what I came here to find out!" Chi-Chi said in exasperation. "I just died, and I came here to see Goku. Now can you please tell me where he is?"

"Wait a minute!" King Kai interrupted, looking shocked. "Goku's dead? _Again?_"

"Of course he is!" Chi-Chi snapped. "Why would he be here if he wasn't dead?"

Her anger vanished as she realized that King Kai wasn't playing some stupid joke on her. He really didn't know where Goku was. "I don't understand… didn't you know that he was dead?" she asked faintly.

King Kai shook his head. "This is all news to me. It's been a while since I've checked in on Earth. Things have been so peaceful there… and I try and keep busy by training new fighters since Goku isn't around anymore…"

"But I checked with King Yemma just before I got here!" Chi-Chi said pleadingly. "He said that Goku checked in a long time ago; he was heading here!"

"Well, if King Yemma said that he died, then it must be true," King Kai said slowly. "But if he is dead, he certainly hasn't come here."

Chi-Chi couldn't believe what she was hearing. She paced back and forth. "I-I don't understand!" she cried. "If Goku isn't here, then where _is_ he?"

To be continued…

Sadako-Tokuemei-Kibou: The Son family is going to be okay. Chi-Chi died a very peaceful death. It's her afterlife that's going to be the ordeal.

Desta: Thank you!  


K001runnings: There will be a few OCs in the fic. That's all I will say

Lady Athena X: Yes, Goku is dead. Chi-Chi got to keep her body, as you can see from this chapter. Why not? She deserves it; she's been a good person. I agree with you completely on GT. My little brother likes the show, but I don't. I hate the fact that they made Goku a little kid again (even though he is a cute little kid). I hate the fact that they have a robot that keeps repeating his name like a Pokemon. *shudders* I hate the fact that they made Goten a ladies man, which is why I made him go back to fighting in my fic. *breathes* Sorry, I got carried away. Don't worry about ranting, I rant too :)

Kinosei: I respect your opinions about GT. I just don't like the show, that's all. Sorry, this isn't a _Finding Nemo _parody (although I will include a few references to that oh-so-wonderful movie). I didn't say that Goku just dropped dead instant; the others just felt his ki vanish. Besides, he was very far away, they wouldn't have been able to tell that his ki was vanishing slowly. Anyway, you're right: Goku wouldn't have gone down without a fight. So what happened to him? Only I know, and I'm not telling. Just have some patience, you will find out soon.

Carrie: Thank you!

Winner!: The others will be just fine. It's Chi-Chi and Goku I'd be worried about if I were you. *cackles*

Sara: Glad to know a lot of the people who reviewed "A Simple Wish" are reading this fic. I hope it will be just as good, if not better :)

Lady Thundera: I couldn't think of anyone I wanted to end up with Goten yet. Besides, he's been busy training. Maybe he'd end up with somebody later… Don't worry, you're supposed to be confused. Nobody is supposed to know what happened to Goku for a few chapters. You're probably even more confused now that Goku isn't on Grand Kai's planet. All I can say is trust me. There's a method to my madness. All revealed in time…

Sakura123: What does Goku need to explain? If it's about going to train Uub, Chi-Chi had already established an understanding in the last chapter. If it's about how he died, King Yemma said that he didn't know how he died in this chapter. Neither does anyone at the moment… Strange? Yep. Evil? Yep. Am I enjoying torturing the characters and readers? You bet I am! ;)

Jessica C: I update every Thursday. I'm not really sure how long it's going to be yet. 


	3. Part Three

Part Three

"Don't get upset," King Kai assured Chi-Chi. "I don't know where Goku is, but I'm sure he's fine. He's probably just wandering around, exploring the other planets or something. You know Goku, he can't resist an opportunity for adventure."

"Yes, I know," Chi-Chi nodded shakily. "He can take care of himself… I shouldn't be worried. Just because he isn't here, doesn't mean something bad happened to him…" 

Yet in her mind, she knew that something wasn't right. King Yemma said that Goku had intended to come to Grand Kai's planet. Goku wasn't a fickle person; whenever he said he was going to do something, he usually did it. What could have possibly changed his mind?

"Well, where else could he be?" Chi-Chi wondered anxiously. She tried to remember all of the places that Goku had gone to when he was dead. "What about the Supreme Kai's planet?"

"I don't think so," King Kai replied slowly. "He only stayed there while Gohan was being trained by the Old Kai. If I know Goku, he'd want to be on a planet where there are other, even stronger fighters to fight."

"Are there any other places in Other World like this?" Chi-Chi asked curiously.

King Kai shook his head. "Nope, this is the only one. Actually, _my_ planet was another good place to train, but thanks to your husband bringing Cell to my home just as he was about to explode, it's gone! Honestly, I don't know how you put up with him… The only other place I can think of that he could be is the good people planet, only --- "

"That isn't a place that you can train," Chi-Chi finished his sentence. She sighed and sat down on the grass. "Kami, first he dies, and now he disappears from Other World. What's next?"

"Incidentally, how did Goku die?" King Kai asked, interested. "I didn't think there were any new threats to Earth since Majin Buu."

"There wasn't. I don't know how he died," Chi-Chi admitted sadly. "None of us do. We weren't there when it happened because he was training Uub. There wasn't a battle or anything because Vegeta and my sons didn't sense any new powers. It was just a normal day until we all felt him die." She paused thoughtfully. "Actually, my sons sensed his death. I don't know how _I_ felt it; I don't know how to sense ki. I guess I just had some sixth sense that told me he was dead…"

"It's because he's a Saiyan," King Kai clarified. "Saiyans always had a close bond with their mates. If something happened to one of them, the other would feel it. But enough about that… what about that kid Goku was training? Did he know what happened to Goku?"

"No, Uub didn't know how he died either," Chi-Chi continued. "He said that Goku gave him a break from training so that he could come visit us, but he never got there…"

Remembering that day nearly brought tears to her eyes. Of all the times Goku had died, this was the one that hurt her the most. It wasn't because she never got to say good-bye --- she never got to say good-bye to him the other two times he died either --- but because she didn't get the chance to resolve things with him. If she had known that he was going to die, she wouldn't have acted so distant to him during his last visit.

King Kai narrowed his eyes. "So Goku just dropped dead in the middle of nowhere?" he asked skeptically.

"I don't know," Chi-Chi said, shrugging helplessly. "I asked King Yemma about how he died when I went to the check-in station. He doesn't know how Goku died either… even Goku didn't know…"

"What?" King Kai yelled, nearly falling over in shock. "You're telling me that Goku didn't how he _died_? I mean, Goku's not the brightest bulb in the box, but I think he would have noticed if he was dying!"

"Of course he would have. So how could he have died?"

King Kai frowned. "I'd better contact King Yemma and see if he can tell us more about this." He turned around so that his back was facing Chi-Chi. "Put your hand on my back so you can hear what he says."

Chi-Chi was momentarily thrown by this order. Then she remembered what Goku had told her about King Kai being telepathic. She placed in her hand on his back.

"King Yemma, can you hear me?" King Kai called out. "This is King Kai."

At once, Chi-Chi could hear King Yemma's voice in her head, almost as though he were somewhere nearby. _"I can hear you, King Kai. What's going on?"_

"We have a problem," King Kai told him. "Goku's wife came to Grand Kai's planet…"

"Hey, I'm right here!" Chi-Chi cut him off irritably. "Don't talk about me like I'm somewhere else!"

"Anyway, she was looking for Goku. She said you told her he was supposed to be here… and he isn't."

_"What do you mean Goku isn't there?" _King Yemma demanded. _"It's been twenty-five years since he died; he should have arrived there by now!"_

"He hasn't," King Kai said flatly. "In fact, I didn't even _know_ he was dead. Is it true that neither you nor him know how he died?"

_"Um… yes," _King Yemma said awkwardly. It was clear from the tone of his voice that he was ashamed of this.

"Okay, well, did Goku say anything about what he was doing at the time of his death?"

_"As a matter of fact, he did. He was really surprised to find out he was dead. He told me that he was flying home, when for some strange reason, he crashed. It was like he ran out of energy or something. And he couldn't use Instant Transmission to go anywhere either._

"He just assumed that he used up a lot of his energy training Uub, so he didn't think much of it. He started to walk the rest of the way, only he got worn out after a while too."

"That's odd," Chi-Chi said worriedly. "The only time he ever got worn out by flying was when he came down with the heart virus. Was he sick again?"

_"No, if he was sick, it would have shown up on his record. And he said that up until then he was fine. As I was saying, he stopped to rest for a minute, and the next thing he knew, he was in Other World."_

"That's it?" King Kai asked incredulously. "It doesn't make any sense! A person can't die just like that --- especially not someone as strong as Goku!"

_"Whether it's possible or not, that's how it happened," _King Yemma replied. _"I'm sorry I can't be of any more help in clearing this mess up, but that's all I know."_

King Kai thanked King Yemma and ended his psychic transmission. Chi-Chi removed her hand from his back, upset.

"Now I _know_ something's wrong!" she moaned. "Goku was never one to get tired that easily! Even when his whole body was broken after the battle with the Saiyans, he still wanted to train and help Krillin, Gohan, and Bulma on Namek. For Kami's sake, he broke out of the hospital _twice_!"

King Kai nodded. "He was in the prime of his life and in perfect health… and then he just dies of exhaustion? No, he didn't die a natural death. Some other force had to have been behind this…"

"You think that there could be a connection between Goku's death and his disappearance?" Chi-Chi inquired.

"There could be," King Kai said grimly. 

"What should we do?" Pikkon asked in a quiet voice. Chi-Chi jumped; she had almost forgotten that he was there.

"Well, I'll tell you what _I'm_ going to do!" she said fiercely. "I'm going to go find him!"

"That might not be a good idea," King Kai said cautiously. "Like I said, Goku can take care of himself. And even if he _is_ in trouble, he wouldn't want you in any kind of danger…"

"I don't care!" Chi-Chi exploded. "Do you know what it's like to lose someone you love and not even know how he died? My family and I do! We did everything we could to try and figure out what could have happened to Goku; we had to spend twenty-five years without a single clue as to why he die! And if someone or something is responsible for his death and is keeping him away from me, then I want to find out why!"

King Kai could see that there was no talking Chi-Chi out of this. "All right, all right," he said reluctantly. "But at least let me go with you. Goku's my student; I ought to make sure nothing happens to his wife."

"Fine," Chi-Chi said shortly. "Where should we look first?"

"Maybe we should look on the good people's planet, just in case," King Kai suggested. "Even if he isn't there, it never hurts to look."

Chi-Chi nodded in agreement. Secretly, she hoped that Goku was there. Forget that it didn't make since for him to go to the good planet instead of the Grand Kai's planet. If he was there, that meant that he was safe, and that was all that mattered to her. 

But if not…

_Well, I'm just going to have to find him, _she thought determinedly. _For twenty-five years, I've waited for him. No more waiting…From now on I'm not going let anything keep me from being with the man that I love._

***

Chi-Chi and King Kai took another plane back to the good people's planet. It wasn't her first time there, since it was the place she had went to when she had first died. Like the Grand Kai's planet, it was very beautiful. The only difference was that there weren't any fighters training on the planet.

Once they arrived, King Kai bowed his head, seemingly concentrating on something. "I don't sense Goku's ki anywhere on the planet," he informed Chi-Chi.

"It doesn't mean anything," Chi-Chi said automatically. Her mind searched frantically for a possible explanation for this. "He could be suppressing ki or something…"

"Why would he do that?" King Kai asked, frowning.

"I don't know!" Chi-Chi snapped. "Look, if he isn't on Grand Kai's planet, then he has to be here. So let's just look anyway!"

King Kai sighed. "Geez, Goku was right about you; you do have a temper. We'd better split up then. I'll go right and you go left. I'll let you know if I see Goku."

"Fine," Chi-Chi said hastily. Without another word, she ran off in the left direction of the planet.

All around her she saw trees, plants, and even little moths floating around that reminded her of Earth. There were also other dead people in numerous parts of the planet. Some had kept their bodies like she had, and others were the little spirits she had seen on Earth.

Yet she took notice of none of this. The only thing in her mind was finding Goku. 

_I wish I could sense ki like Goku and the other fighters could, _she thought. _That would make this easier…_

She looked for him throughout the entire planet. There was no sign of him. King Kai was right; if he couldn't sense Goku's ki, then he wasn't on the planet.

__

Why isn't he here? she thought desperately. _What happened to him all those years ago?_

Just then, she heard a voice calling out her name. "Chi-Chi? Chi-Chi, is it you?"

Startled, Chi-Chi turned around to see a woman with dark hair and eyes standing behind her. "How do you know my ---?" she started to ask, but stopped in mid-sentence. She took a closer look at the woman. She had seen her before, in a painting in her father's castle…

"Oh my… oh my goodness!" Chi-Chi gasped, hardly daring to believe it. She swallowed. "Mom?

The woman nodded, beaming. "Yes, it's me."

Chi-Chi let out a scream and embraced her mother tearfully. "Oh Mom! It's so good to see you!"

"I missed you so much, honey," her mother said softly. She gazed at her daughter in amazement. "The last time I saw you, you were only a baby… you've become so beautiful."

Chi-Chi flushed. "The only reason I look this way is because I got to keep my body. A little while ago, I was an old woman. Is Dad here too? How is he?" The Ox-King had died several years after Goku had.

"Yes, he's here," her mother replied, laughing and crying at the same time. "Don't worry, he's fine. In fact, he's never been better! He's told so much about how you've grown and your family…" 

She took Chi-Chi's hand and led her to a nearby tree. "And what of you, my daughter? How have you been doing?"

For the next hour or so, Chi-Chi got a chance to what she'd longed to do since she was a little girl: speak to her mother. She told her all about her life: about Goku and their sons, about the various trials… everything up until Goku's death and her own.

"It sounds like you've had an interesting life," her mother commented. 

Chi-Chi couldn't help but laugh. "It _has_ been interesting," she agreed. 

It was odd, but years ago, she would have said that her life was difficult. After all, she kept getting separated from her family every time a new threat came to Earth. She lost Goku to those threats plenty of times. Now that her life was over, however, she had to admit that her life had been a good one. She was grateful for her family and the time that she had with them. If she had to live her life over again, she probably wouldn't have changed a single thing. 

"So where's Goku now?" her mother wanted to know. "I'd very much like to meet him."

"I'm trying to find him. I guess that means you haven't seen him?"

Her mother shook her head. "No, I haven't."

Chi-Chi groaned in frustration. "I wish I knew where he is. I need to see him; there are things I need to tell him…"

"Don't worry, dear," her mother said, giving her a hug. "You'll find him, I'm sure of it. After all, your father raised a strong daughter."

"I'm not as strong as others," she admitted ruefully.

"Yes, you are," her mother insisted. "Your father told me about all the times your husband had to leave, and you were able to go on. Not just anyone can endure the pain you have. I'm very proud of you."

Chi-Chi smiled through her tears. She had always wondered if her mother would have been proud of her, especially since there were many times when she had behaved rashly and unreasonably. It felt so good to finally hear her mother say that.

She wanted to stay with her mother for a little longer, yet she couldn't. "I have to go now," she said regretfully, standing up. "I have to find Goku."

Her mother smiled. "I understand." She hugged her again. "It was so good to see you. Come back and visit me again, all right?"

"I will," Chi-Chi promised. "And when I find Goku, I'll bring him here so you can meet him!"

"I'm looking forward to it! Good luck!"

Chi-Chi waved good-bye to her mother as she left. _Wait until I tell Goku this! _she thought excitedly. 

Her excitement quickly faded at the thought of him. _Oh Goku, where are you? I hope I find you soon…_

After a while, she met up with King Kai. "Sorry, Chi-Chi, I couldn't find him anywhere," he said grimly.

"Neither could I." Chi-Chi thought hard. "Where could else could he possibly be?"

"Wait a minute!" King Kai said suddenly. "There's Snake Way! He could be hanging around Snake Way."

Chi-Chi shrugged. Where else did they have to look. "Okay, let's go."

***

"Goku!" Chi-Chi called out, cupping her hands over her mouth. "Goku! Are you here?"

She and King Kai had reached Snake Way and were continuing their search for Goku. So far, he was nowhere to be found. The only thing that they could see was the endless yellow road and the numerous clouds.

"Goku!" Chi-Chi yelled frantically. "Where are you? Say something!" 

She paused, listening for a response. There was none.

"All right, Goku, the joke's over!" she shouted, trying in vain to believe that this was all some trick he was playing on her. "This isn't funny! Come out right now!"

King Kai shook his head. "It's no use. He isn't here."

"Then where is he?" Chi-Chi demanded, panic consuming her. "He _has _to be somewhere! He couldn't have just vanished into thin air!"

She took several deep, calming breaths. "Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions," she muttered to herself. "Just because I can't find him doesn't necessarily mean that something bad happened to him. I mean, he's already dead; nothing worse can happen to him…"

"You're wrong," King Kai retorted. 

Chi-Chi stared at him, surprised. "What do you mean?"

"Ordinarily, you don't need to worry if anything happens to you in Other World, since nothing ever does," King Kai explained slowly. "But if your body somehow gets destroyed in Other World, then that's it. There's no way of bringing you back to life or to the afterlife; you won't exist at all. In other words, you're done for."

Chi-Chi paled. "And --- And you think that's what happened to Goku?" she faltered.

"Um --- no!" King Kai said hastily, seeing Chi-Chi's fear. "Goku can take care of himself… he wouldn't have let something like that happen."

"Then how did he die?" Chi-Chi wailed. "Something killed him, and he didn't even know what hit him." She started to cry. "What happened to Goku?"

"I can answer that," a voice replied.

Chi-Chi and King Kai whirled around. Fortuneteller Baba came floating towards them on her crystal ball.

"Baba!" King Kai exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you," Baba retorted. "King Yemma summoned me shortly after you contacted him. He said that Goku's missing. Naturally, I checked my crystal ball for his whereabouts and I found him."

"You found him?" Chi-Chi asked breathlessly.

"Yeah… well… that's the _good_ news," Baba said meekly.

"Oh, great, that means there's bad news," King Kai moaned.

"Where is he?" Chi-Chi demanded anxiously.

Baba glanced at her nervously. "Perhaps we should discuss this in private," she muttered to King Kai. "When she hears this, she's going to freak out…"

"Oh no you don't!" Chi-Chi snarled, grabbing Baba by the back of her dress. "I wand to know where he is; I can handle whatever you tell me!

"She's right, Baba," King Kai joined in. "She's his wife, for crying out loud! She ought to know. Besides, it can't be _that_ bad --- can it?"

"Oh, it's bad all right," Baba said gravely.

"Just tell us where he is!" Chi-Chi snapped impatiently.

Baba hesitated. Then, in a low voice, she replied, "He's in Hell."

To be continued…

A/N: I know what you're all thinking: *gulps* I am so going to get flamed for the cliffhanger. "What the hell is Goku doing in Hell?!" (I know, I know, bad pun.) Don't worry, there is a reasonable explanation for everything, but you're going to have to wait for it. This was supposed to be two separate parts, but I decided to combine them both together since it would be too short.

Angel in the Shadows: I remember those books! I could never really find that darn Waldo; I wasn't too good at those kinds of books.

Tony: You'll just have to wait and see what happens. I'm glad you liked the idea of Pan, Uub, and Goten teaming up. I'm not planning for them to be in this story at all, but I'm thinking about giving them a brief mention in the next part. Yeah, it sucks that they never showed Gotenks as an adult. I thought that Goten and Trunks should have kept training and became stronger. If you think about it, it was kind of a waste that they slacked off their training at the end of DBZ. 

ChiChiko: King Kai helped Chi-Chi in this chapter. A happy ending? We'll see… 

Carrie: Now that Chi-Chi knows where he is, it's going to be even bigger of a task. I read your fic; it looks good!

Sakura123: Thank you, I always try to keep everyone in character. A lot of stuff was revealed about Goku's death in this part, but the exact cause of it will be revealed in the next part. You may want to brace yourself for a shock when all the pieces come together.

Lady Athena X: Tell you what, let's have no more ranting on GT. It's just a waste of space to the both of us since we don't like the show. (BTW, I agree with everything you said about Goku being a little more childish than he was in GT.) No, Chi-Chi isn't going to give up until she finds Goku, but she's in for a rough time. Now you know where Goku is. How he wound up there will be revealed soon.

Jessica C: Goku's in the worst place imaginable. Poor Goku. And poor Chi-Chi just got the shock of her afterlife... I'm so evil. *cackles*

Sara: You're right, I won't give away answers. What would be the point of posting the other chapters if everybody knew what was going to happen anyway?

Sadako-Tokumei-Kibou: You're probably even more confused now, but things will clear up soon. Yes, you're going to have to wait until next Thursday to find out how Goku got into this whole mess. Heh, heh, heh!

Lady Thundera: Actually, Chi-Chi was kind of like a ghost when she died and was looking for Gohan on the good planet. It _did _look like she had her body, but she, Bulma, and Videl had little tail things where their feet were supposed to be --- sort of like Casper the friendly ghost or something. Oh, well. Goku, in my bedroom? I wish! *sees Chi-Chi behind her* I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Well, now you know where Goku is…


	4. Part Four

Disclaimer: I took a lot of names from the Indian myth, _The Ramayana_. For the purposes of this fic, I really altered the plot of the myth and the characters of Rama and Sita, but you won't really see that until the next chapter.

Also, the idea that Baba opens portals to the Other World belongs to Lady Thundera. Again, it's been a long time since I've seen the episodes when Goku is in Other World. I don't know if Baba can really open a portal to Hell or not, but if she visits Other World, it's possible. I mean, she has to get there _somehow_.

Part Four

Gohan and Goten stood in a field nearby their two respective homes. The two brothers stared at two wooden grave markers in front of them. One was for their father. The other was for their mother.

An hour ago, the entire Son family had gathered for a funeral for their mother, who had died the other day. Since they didn't have a body to bury, they simply made a grave marker for her, next to the other empty one they made for their father years ago. They knew she would have liked that.

One by one, the rest of the family had left. Yet Gohan and Goten lingered. Neither of them really knew why they stayed. They just felt that they owed it to their mother to stay for a little longer.

Goten glanced at his older brother. Telling Gohan and his family about Chi-Chi's death was the hardest thing he ever had to do. He knew how difficult this was for Gohan, but admired the way he handled the situation, staying strong for the rest of the family… though he was no longer a fighter, he was still strong.

For a long time, the two brothers stood there in somber silence. At last, Gohan spoke. "I should have been there."

"What?" Goten asked absent-mindedly.

"I should have been there," Gohan said dully. "I knew she was getting old, but I took for granted that she was always there…"

He stared hard at the ground. "If I had visited her more often, then maybe… maybe I would have got to say good-bye."

"Don't talk like that!" Goten told him sternly. "You were busy, you couldn't help it."

Gohan shook his head vehemently. "That's no excuse. She always took care of me --- of us --- and I didn't take good enough care of her."

"Look, you didn't know it was going to happen," Goten said gently, putting a hand on his shoulder. "And she died peacefully."

Gohan kicked a few blades of grass. "It's funny," he said sadly. "You never know when it's going to happen, don't you? You know that people aren't going to be around forever, but when they actually die, it's always a shock."

"Yeah," Goten agreed. "It's just going to be so hard. She's always been there for us."

"And now we'll have to be there for each other. That's what she wanted, right?"

Goten nodded.

"You know, I'm really jealous of you," Gohan admitted ruefully. 

"Why?" Goten asked, confused.

"You were the only one who got to say good-bye."

"I'm sorry… but you should know that she was thinking about you. She told me to say how proud she was of you --- of _all_ of us."

Gohan smiled ruefully. "Thanks." He paused. "At least Mom died peacefully. And she's with Dad now. She must be very happy…"

"Yeah," Goten said softly. "Mom will be okay." His sudden optimism reminded himself of his father. Briefly, he recalled how alike the two of them had been until he'd stopped training. Yet now that he had taken it up again, he supposed he was more like his father than ever.

Goten looked up at the sky. The sun was setting, the dying light turning the sky reddish-gold. His mother had always loved sunsets…

__

Yeah, she'll be okay, he thought. He managed to smile. _I bet she and Dad are together in Other World right now!_

***

"He's in Hell."

There was silence. King Kai and Chi-Chi stared at Baba in numb shock. Finally, King Kai let out a nervous laugh.

"If this is a joke, Baba, it's the worst one I ever heard." He paused anxiously. "It is a joke, isn't it? Because Goku --- he can't be in Hell. He, of all people..."

Baba shook her head. "It's no joke. Goku is in Hell."

"_Hell?_" Chi-Chi whispered hoarsely, stricken. She felt as though she were about to faint. "My Goku's in Hell?" 

"Goku's been in Hell for the past twenty-five years, and nobody bothered to find this out until _now_?" King Kai yelled, freaking out. "How could King Yemma have let this happen?"

"Goku told him that he was going to Grand Kai's planet, and King Yemma assumed that he did!" Baba replied. She added, "But if you ask me, he should have checked this out sooner. _He_ rules Other World, for Kami's sake; he's supposed to prevent these things from happening."

"He can't be there!" Chi-Chi cried, shaking her head in desperate denial. 

Baba pointed to her crystal ball. "I saw it myself. The ball never lies."

Chi-Chi refused to believe it. Goku couldn't possibly be in that terrible place! Why would someone like him be in Hell? The mere idea of it was unthinkable…

But then she remembered that Goku had been in Hell once. He had accidentally fallen off Snake Way on his way to King Kai's planet the first time he died. Only he'd escaped. So how could Goku have spent the last twenty-five years trapped in Hell if he could have easily escaped it again? It made no sense at all.

"Was it an accident?" she whispered. "Did he fall off Snake Way?"

"No, it was no accident," Baba said gravely. "It was deliberate."

"_Deliberate_?" King Kai repeated incredulously. "Don't tell me that idiot just went down there to pick a fight with Frieza and the other villains who are there!"

"Of course not!" Baba snapped. "Goku may not be very bright, but he's not _that _stupid! I meant deliberate because he was taken there by force!"

Chi-Chi was stunned by this new revelation. "You mean he was captured?"

"That's impossible!" King Kai shouted. "Goku's one of the strongest fighters in the universe… he wouldn't let himself be captured like that!"

"It's not always the strongest person who wins," Baba said darkly. "You were right, King Kai; Goku's death wasn't a natural one. In fact, he was killed so that he could be taken to Hell shortly after he arrived in Other World."

"_What?_" King Kai shrieked, looking more flustered by the second.

"So someone _did_ kill him!" Chi-Chi exclaimed. "But how? King Yemma said that Goku never even knew what hit him…" On a sudden hunch, she asked fearfully, "Did Frieza have anything to do with it? Or Cell? Or anyone else that Goku has fought?"

"No. As far as we know, they're still locked in prison cells," Baba explained. "Besides, they don't have the power for something like this. King Yemma looked through his files and we think we know who's responsible for this whole mess."

"Who is it?" Chi-Chi wanted to know. 

"Come on, Baba, cut the suspense!" King Kai urged.

"It was a sorceress by the name of Sita."

"Sita?" King Kai repeated blankly. "I don't think I've ever heard of her."

"Not very many people do," Baba said, frowning. "There wasn't much on her in King Yemma's files, but I'll tell you what I know…

"A couple of centuries ago, Sita was a princess on a planet called Vishnu, until she was banished. For what, I don't know. During her exile, she sold herself to dark forces and became a witch. For some reason, she was obsessed with men who wronged women. If a woman had been cheated on or treated badly by a man, Sita knew about it, and punished them brutally. 

"At first the women of the planet liked this. The women of Vishnu were often married off at young ages to whoever their parents had arranged the marriage with… and in most cases, they were treated poorly. The men could have as many spouses as they wanted, but the women were forced to stay as pure as snow! They had no rights at all…"

"Couldn't they just leave them?" Chi-Chi asked curiously.

Baba shook her head. "On that planet, divorce was unheard of. It was their custom to stay with their spouses, no matter how horribly they were treated. The only way they could escape was if their husband died, and usually they were married off to another person the moment that happened."

"That's awful," Chi-Chi murmured. She'd heard of domestic abuse on television shows. She couldn't understand why some wives would purposely stay with men who continued to hurt them. Luckily, she wouldn't know what it was like to be in those sorts of situations; Goku would have never done anything to harm her like that. But if she had been in a marriage like that, she would have left, and damn the consequences.

"So you can imagine how delighted the women were when Sita came along," Baba continued. "Some women went as far as to go to Sita and request for her to kill their husbands, which she was only too happy to do. She became known as 'Sita the Avenger' to them.

"This went on for several years until Sita grew too powerful. The ways that she killed the men became more gruesome. The people finally woke up to what she was doing. Warriors all over the planet tried to kill her, but none of them were a match for her power.

"The battle lasted almost a year; almost the entire planet was wiped out. Naturally, the only way to defeat magic is with magic, so the survivors hired sorcerer to banish her to Hell. However, she was able to keep her powers when she crossed over. She was able to escape the ogres that guarded Hell and built her own fortress far from their reach…

"Being in Hell worked to her advantage. She can't leave Hell, but she can use her powers to kill people --- mostly men --- on other planets and drag their spirits down to Hell."

"So Sita used one of her spells on Goku!" King Kai concluded. "That was why Gohan or Goten couldn't sense any other powers when Goku died! It all makes sense! Sita must have sucked all the ki out of him, which explains why he was so tired. _That's_ how he died!"

"Exactly," Baba agreed. "She probably used some spells to make sure that Goku couldn't fight back and dragged him down to Hell after he left the check-in station. Kami knows that he wouldn't have spent twenty-five years there if he were able to fight back and escape…"

Chi-Chi just stood there, trembling in silent rage. This Sita was responsible for murdering her husband. She took him away from her and their family and trapped him in Hell!

"Why?" she demanded aloud. "What does Sita want with Goku?"

"I'm not sure," Baba muttered, thinking hard. "The only possibility I can think of is that Frieza and the other villains wanted revenge on Goku. Maybe they hired Sita to kill him and bring him to Hell so that they could destroy him for good. But like I said, they're locked in their prison cells, so that's impossible."

"Unless they escaped again," King Kai said seriously. "After all, it happened before…"

"Is Goku still there?" Chi-Chi asked frantically. "They haven't killed him again, have they?"

"He's still there," Baba told her. "Nothing's happened to him --- not yet, at least. When I saw him through my ball, he was…" She hesitated. It seemed as though what she had to say next was difficult to say.

"He was suffering," she finished quietly. "He was in pain… both physically and emotionally. Someone was torturing him. I think it was Sita, yet I couldn't tell. It was horrible. I've known Goku for a long time, and not once have I seen him that --- _helpless_." 

Upon these words, Chi-Chi's hands clenched into fists. Her fury was escalating further every minute. Goku --- her Goku --- was being tortured?

__

How dare she? she thought angrily. _How **dare** she? How dare she make him suffer like that? I don't know how terrible those men were like on Vishnu, but Goku is certainly not like them! _

"This is not good," King Kai said grimly. "We need to get him out of there… but how?" He turned towards Chi-Chi. "I'm really sorry that you had find this out… HEY, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

Chi-Chi was standing on the edge of Snake Way, and would have surely jumped if Baba and King Kai hadn't pulled her back at the last second. Needless to say, it was extremely difficult to do, since Chi-Chi was taller than the two of them combined.

"Are you crazy?" Baba shrieked, holding on to her arm. "You nearly fell right into Hell!" 

"Let me go!" Chi-Chi yelled, struggling against their grip. "I have to go there! He needs me!"

"I want to help Goku too, only this isn't the way to do it!" King Kai shouted, trying to pull her back to safety. 

"_I'm not going to just stand here while my husband rots in Hell! _" she screamed. She wrenched herself out of their hand and darted to the edge.

"WAIT!" King Kai hollered in panic. "If you jump off Snake Way, you'll be stuck in Hell forever! It doesn't matter whether you're a good person or not, you won't be able to go back to any of the good planets! Do you really think Goku would that to happen to you, even if he was in trouble?"

King Kai's words couldn't help but make Chi-Chi stop and think. The image Goku's face suddenly appeared in her mind. No, he was right. Goku certainly wouldn't wand her to be stuck in Hell forever. Reluctantly, she stepped off the edge and back onto the path. 

Still, she wasn't about to give in yet. There had to be another way…

"Isn't there another way I can get to Goku?" she wanted to know. "A way that you can help me out of Hell?"

"Unless you can fly or do Instant Transmission like Goku," Baba said dryly. "Which I doubt you can. There _is_ King Yemma's trapdoor to Hell, but that's just as bad as falling off Snake Way…"

She froze. "No --- wait a minute… there is a way. I can open a portal to Hell. If we do that, I can just reopen it and pull you out…"

"No!" King Kai shouted. "No, no, no, no, no, a thousand times no! Opening a portal to Hell? All the monsters locked in there could escape!"

"It would only be open long enough for her to get in," Baba protested. "It _could_ work…"

"No, it can't!" King Kai argued. "If King Yemma got wind of what we were doing, he'd send _us_ to Hell! He'd never allow it!"

"I don't care whether he allows it or not!" Chi-Chi snapped. "This is Goku we're talking about! He's risked his life to save everyone more times than I can count! Why _wouldn't_ King Yemma allow bending a few rules if it means saving Goku?"

"That's true," King Kai admitted grudgingly. "But it's still too risky! There are so many things that could go wrong with this plan! All the villains Goku's fought? If they caught you in Hell and discovered that you're his wife, they'd destroy you! Goku would kill me if something happened to you!"

"I don't think he'll have time to kill you since he's being tortured by a psychotic sorceress," Baba pointed out dryly.

"Look, let's get King Yemma's permission to send Pikkon or another warrior from Grand Kai's planet to help him," King Kai begged.

Baba shook her head. "No good. If Goku was unable to defeat Sita, then how would any other fighter stand a chance? Come to think of it, you wouldn't fare any better," she added to Chi-Chi.

Chi-Chi was very insulted by this. Yet although she would never admit it, they _did_ have a point. She was certainly no match for anyone Goku had faced. She'd learned the hard way when she slapped Majin Buu for supposedly killing Gohan. The fact that she had given up fighting to be a wife and mother was a further disadvantage.

"I'm the daughter of the Ox-King," Chi-Chi told them in a rather dignified voice. "I'm not a Saiyan or have extraordinary powers, but I _am_ strong! I'm not as strong as Goku, my sons, or any of their friends, but I still know how to fight!"

"That isn't enough!" King Kai said, shaking his head. "Don't you remember what I told you earlier? If your body's destroyed in Other World, you won't exist!"

"And the same thing will happen to Goku if I don't do something!" Chi-Chi shot back. "Besides, I have my youth back; I'm in a better fighting condition than ever. I can take care of myself." 

"What makes you think that you can do anything to help Goku?" King Kai demanded. "Sita would probably defeat you in two seconds --- no offense --- if you even make it through Hell. How do you know you can do this?"

"I don't," Chi-Chi replied grimly, "but I can try."

For what must have been an hour, King Kai kept trying to convince Chi-Chi out of going. It was no use. Whenever Chi-Chi made up her mind about something, that was it. It was just like when Gohan and Goku were on Namek and she forced Bulma's father to make a spaceship so she could go after them. Everybody tried to talk her out of it, but she was adamant on going. The only difference between now and then was that she never actually made it to Namek…

Only this was different. This time, she was _going_. If Goku knew she was in trouble, he wouldn't hesitate to go after her. What kind of wife would she be if she wouldn't do the same for him?

"I hate to get in the middle," Baba said loudly, silencing King Kai and Chi-Chi, "only we're wasting time! I don't know how long Goku can hold out. If we're going to do something to help him, we'd better do it now!"

King Kai frowned, appearing to be making a big decision. "It's suicide!" he said weakly, making one last effort. 

"I'm not afraid," Chi-Chi said flatly. And she wasn't.

"Oh… all right, let's do it," King Kai sighed in defeat. "I just hope Goku knows how lucky he is. Not many people would risk an eternity in Hell for their loved ones…

"Okay, here's the plan. Baba will open the portal for Chi-Chi. The two of us will use Baba's ball to check on you, and I'll contact you if necessary. And if anything goes wrong, we'll reopen the portal and bring you back whether Goku's with you or not. I don't care how much you yell at me! I'm going to make sure that nothing happens to my best student's wife."

"Thank you," Chi-Chi said quietly. "You won't need to worry though."

"I sure hope not. And remember, don't trust _anyone_ in Hell," he warned her. "It wouldn't be Hell if there were trustworthy people there."

"Okay."

"And whatever you do, don't tell anyone who you are… especially that you're Son Goku's wife!"

"All right, already!" Chi-Chi said impatiently. "Just open the portal!"

Baba raised her hands and started chanting. A trickle of light appeared, hovering over the path. It grew larger and larger until it was roughly the size of a window. Chi-Chi peered inside. She shuddered at the sight she beheld…

King Kai saw her fear. "If you don't want to do this, it's all right…"

"No!" Chi-Chi said firmly, keeping her features set. "I'm okay… I can do this. Wish me luck."

"Good luck," he replied. 

"You're going to need it," Baba muttered under her breath.

"Thanks," Chi-Chi said dryly. She took a deep breath. _This for Goku, _she reminded herself. _I can do this --- I **hope** I can…_

She held her head high and, without a second thought, leapt through the portal into Hell.

To be continued…

A/N: I know, I know, evil cliffhanger, but believe me, it's won't be the worst one in the fic. I hope that since a lot of questions you've been asking about Goku's death have been answered in this chapter… however, the reason why Goku's been taken to Hell won't be revealed until later chapters. All I can say is when the time comes, prepare to be shocked. *laughs wickedly*

Happy Easter to everyone!

Maria Cline: Chi-Chi doesn't really have time to train; she's more concerned with finding Goku. After all, he could fade into nonexistence at any second. But she still knows how to fight, and she will fight for her man. I really like your G/CC stories too. When are you going to continue them?

Sara: You're right. King Yemma didn't bother to check because he was certain Goku was at the Grand Kai's planet. About Goku having opportunities to fight… well, let's just say you'll find out what happened to him in Hell later…

Carrie: How Goku got into Hell was explained in this chapter. As for why Sita dragged him down there in the first place… you'll find that out later.

ChiChiko: This cliffhanger is probably even worse. You're just going to have to wait and see what happens.

Jessica C: What did Goku do? Hmmm… good question. I remember the DBZ episode when Pikkon and Goku went to Hell to recapture Frieza, Cell and the other villains, so yeah, you could go to Hell and come back. It's a matter of getting there. King Yemma told Goku to be careful not to fall off Snake Way because if he did, he couldn't go back. He did anyway, but he escaped because he's Goku :). In this case, it's a little different. You'll have to see whether Chi-Chi can make it back alive --- or at least as alive as a dead person can be. LOL!

VidelChan313: Nope, it's not good. Not good at all.

Lady Thundera: Yeah, ff.net is a real pain sometimes. I always thought it would be funny if King Kai and Chi-Chi met. No, Goku's not having a good time in Hell. In fact, I think that Chi-Chi is seriously going to kill me when she finds out what's happened to him there, and I think you will too when you find out.

Lady Athena X: Totally agree with you on Chi-Chi's character. I'm glad you liked Chi-Chi meeting her mom. I came up with a lot of ideas of what would happen to Chi-Chi in the afterlife, and meeting her mom met the final cut. What's interesting about the painting of Chi-Chi's family in DB was that they didn't show her mother's actual face. Oh, well. This leads me to wonder about Goku's mother… Chi-Chi didn't take the news about Goku too well, but she's on her way to get him back. After all, nobody messes with her man!

Sadako-Tokumei Kibou: A lot of people never expected Goku to be in Hell. And I don't think you're going to expect the reason why Goku's in Hell either…

Caryl MC: Here's your update!

Gwuinivyre: I like Chi-Chi too. She, Videl, and 18 are my favorite DBZ females. Yes, they should have shown more G/CC moments, but DBZ is an action driven show. Besides, there were some good G/CC moments, rare as they were.


	5. Part Five

Disclaimer: I took a lot of _The Ramayana_ story and included it in this chapter. We read it in English class, and I liked it a lot. The main thing I changed about the story is what happens to Sita. I made her the villain, which was kind of mean since I liked Sita in _The Ramayana_ story and thought what happened to her was basically unfair. I highly recommend reading the original Indian myth. It's a really good story.

Author's Note: Again, it's been a while since I've seen certain episodes of the afterlife on DBZ, so I'm sorry if my descriptions of Hell are inaccurate. I'm kind of going by my memory of the episode when all the villains were watching the fight with Majin Buu from Hell.

Part Five

Chi-Chi fell through the portal and landed on the hard ground. The portal remained open for a few seconds. She saw King Kai and Baba staring at her from the other end. Then Baba waved her arms, and the portal closed. Baba, King Kai, and Snake Way vanished from her sight.

_I guess I'm on my own now, _Chi-Chi thought, stumbling to her feet. It didn't matter to her. If she had to do this on her own, then so be it…

She looked around, taking in her surroundings. Hell was nothing like the other two planets. The sky was a yellowish-red instead of pink and there wasn't a cloud in sight. The ground had no grass or plants; it was just rocky, barren land. 

__

This place is horrible, she thought, shivering. _Then again, it **is **Hell. I certainly wasn't expecting a good place, but the thought of Goku being here…it just makes me sick._

She took a deep breath. _I'm just as strong as Goku, _she reminded herself to ease her fear. _I can bear this for now. I need to find Goku…_

There was just one problem: she had no idea where to start looking.

_Now what? _she wondered helplessly. She tried to think. Baba said that Sita lived in a fortress somewhere in Hell, yet upon looking around further, she didn't see any fortresses. 

Perhaps it was located further from where she was… She briefly considered asking around for directions… only that was a bad idea. There were no trustworthy people in Hell. The most sensible thing she could think of was just to explore until she found it.

She started walking around. She wasn't sure which way to go, so she just went straight. The land seemed to go on endlessly, with nothing else in sight.

__

I hope I don't run into anyone Goku's fought here, she thought worriedly. _I know King Kai said they were locked up, but if they asked Sita to kill Goku and bring him to Hell, they could be loose…_

King Yemma would have known if they broke free, a voice in her head said soothingly. _They have to be locked up._

A curious thought occurred to her: where _were_ those monsters locked up anyway? She preferred not to find out…

Hours seemed to go by, and still there was no sign of a fortress. Even worse, she was sure she was lost.

Chi-Chi's confidence was starting to waver. What if she _never_ found Goku? Or what if she found him, but it was too late? If anything happened to Goku, she didn't know what she'd do…

__

Calm down, the voice in her head persisted. _Worrying isn't helping you find Goku any faster. Goku never worried about anything…and if he did, he never showed it. After all, if he spent most of his time worrying about problems, he'd never actually do anything to solve them. It's the same case for everyone._

Chi-Chi tried to relax, but it wasn't easy to do. How could she relax? Her situation showed no signs of improving any time soon. She was stuck in Hell. Some witch had dragged her husband down here when he hadn't done anything to deserve being in Hell. He was probably being tortured at this very moment. And to make matters worse, she had no idea where she was going!

__

Oh Kami, what have I gotten myself into? she thought hopelessly. _I_ _should have let King Kai get Pikkon or someone to come with me. I need help; there's no way I can do this alone…_

"Hey, you!"

Startled, Chi-Chi turned around to see two ogres approach her: one red, the other blue. They both wore T-shirts with the word "Hell" on it. She sighed in relief. They had to be the ones that guarded Hell. Maybe now she could get some help.

"Excuse me," she began politely, "but can you tell me ---?"

"You aren't supposed to be here," the red ogre cut her off. "Why aren't you locked up with the others?"

Chi-Chi blinked. "Locked up?" she repeated blankly. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb," the blue ogre snapped. "Every day, it's the same thing! A prisoner breaks out and tries to escape from Hell!"

"It wouldn't keep happening if you stopped sleeping at your post!" the red ogre told his companion irritably. "It's your duty to guard the prisoners, not mine! You're lucky I haven't reported you to King Yemma yet!"

"Well, you were the one who almost let that other girl escape last week!" the blue ogre retorted.

"Hey, I couldn't help it! The little spitfire had a killer right hook!" He indicated his right eye, which was swollen black.

Chi-Chi suddenly realized what was going on. The ogres thought that she was one of the residents in Hell. "There's been some mistake," she tried to explain. "I'm not supposed to be here; I'm only here to look for my…"

"Yeah, yeah," the red ogre said, rolling his eyes. "That's what they all say. Now come with us like a good prisoner." He grabbed her arm.

"Hey, take your hands off me!" Chi-Chi shouted indignantly, trying to free herself. "How dare you! I'm not one of the bad guys! You can go ask King Yemma himself! Let me go! I've got to find my husband!"

"Sure, whatever," the blue ogre said sarcastically. The two ogres pinned her arms behind her back and started to drag her away.

Chi-Chi wrenched herself out of their hold and started to make a run for it until the two ogres jumped in front of her. 

"Look, we can either do this the easy way or the hard way," the red ogre threatened.

Chi-Chi growled in frustration. She didn't have time for these idiots; she needed to find Goku! She didn't want to fight them since they were only doing their job. However, it was her only choice. They were preventing her from getting to Goku, so that was just too bad for them. "I think I prefer the hard way," she retorted.

The red ogre laughed harshly. "Good luck! We work with a lot stronger people than you, lady! If you think you can take me on, then you'd better ---" 

He was unable to finish his sentence, because at that very moment, Chi-Chi elbowed him in the stomach. 

He clutched his stomach, winded. "Why, you little ---!" he roared, lunging towards Chi-Chi. He tried to hit her, but she easily dodged the blow and kicked him squarely in the face, knocking him out cold.

She started to turn around, ready to deal with the other ogre. Unfortunately for her, while she'd been distracted fighting his partner, the blue ogre had sneaked up behind her. She dimly felt him deal a hard blow to her neck, and then everything went black.

***

Chi-Chi opened her eyes to find herself lying in what looked like a dark prison cell. She remembered what had happened almost immediately.

"Oh no!" she gasped, fearing the worst. The room had bars blocking the way out of the room --- it was a prison cell. She looked out the bars and saw a dark corridor filled with other cells, although she couldn't see who was in them.

"No!" Chi-Chi moaned, rattling the bars desperately. "I can't be stuck in here!" This couldn't be happening… How could she find Goku if she was locked in Hell for eternity? 

"Let me out!" she screamed to no one in particular, rattling the bars. "Let me out right now, or you're going to be sorry!"

"Don't bother," a voice behind her said quietly. "The ogres aren't here; they spend most of their time guarding the more dangerous prisoners. And even if they _were_ here, they wouldn't let you out."

Chi-Chi turned around and saw a young girl sitting in the corner of the cell. Cautiously, she approached her. "Who are you?" she asked.

"My name's Misai," the girl replied, "and I guess you're my new cell mate." She had dark brown hair that was pulled back in a rather tousled ponytail, and like Chi-Chi, she also had a halo above her head. She was wearing a beige halter top and a pair of harem pants that were torn and filthy. Her face was rather thin and had two scars: a little one above her eye, and a longer one across her right cheek. The tired, hollow look in her eyes gave the impression that she had grown up far too early in life.

"You're new here, aren't you?" Misai asked. "I can tell; it was a real shock for me when I first came… that was hundreds of years ago. It seems even longer when you're in Hell." 

__

Hundreds of years ago? Chi-Chi wondered, amazed. _She doesn't look much older than eighteen. Then again, you don't age when you're dead…_

Misai suddenly grinned. "You must have put up a good fight though. When the ogres brought you in, one of them had a busted jaw and a bloody nose. I gave the same one a shiner when I tried to escape last week."

Chi-Chi didn't respond. Misai seemed pleasant enough, yet Chi-Chi remembered what King Kai told her: _don't trust anyone in Hell. _She already got caught; she wasn't about to make another mistake.

She paced around the cell anxiously, trying not to cry. Tears wouldn't help her out of this situation. She needed to find a way out of this prison and find Goku… but how?

"Are you just going to pace for the rest of your time here?" Misai asked sarcastically. "Because you're starting to make me nervous."

"Sorry," Chi-Chi muttered shortly. She stopped pacing and sat on the floor.

"What's your name?" Misai inquired.

"Chi-Chi," Chi-Chi replied rather cautiously.

"So, what're you in here for?" Misai wanted to know

"I'm not supposed to be here," Chi-Chi couldn't help but respond.

Misai snorted. "That's what everybody says here," 

"It's true!" Chi-Chi snapped. "I came to Hell to look for my husband."

Misai stared at her. "You dragged yourself all the way down to _Hell_ just to look for some guy?" she asked incredulously. "Well, let me tell you, whoever he is, he's certainly not worth an eternity in Hell."

"What makes you say that?" Chi-Chi said coldly. She was liking this girl less every second.

"Well, he obviously had to have been a real jerk if he's in Hell…"

"I wouldn't talk about my husband that way if I were you," Chi-Chi warned her in a dangerously low voice. If there was one thing that made her really mad, it was when somebody insulted her husband --- especially when that person didn't even know him.

Misai raised an eyebrow. "Why not? I mean, if he was a good person, then why would he be in Hell?" 

"He was taken here," Chi-Chi said through gritted teeth. "Some horrible witch named Sita…"

"Sita?" Misai repeated, narrowing her eyes. "As in Sita, the sorceress from Vishnu?"

"Yes, that's her," Chi-Chi said slowly. She looked at Misai curiously. "How do you know about her?"

"I'm from Vishnu," Misai explained. "In fact, I was alive around the time she was. The women from my planet used to go to her when they had problems with their lovers…"

"I already know that," Chi-Chi said hastily. She remembered what Baba had told her about Sita and was suddenly filled with curiosity. "I heard that she had been a princess until she was banished… what was she banished for?"

Misai looked at her thoughtfully. "It's a very long story."

"It doesn't matter," Chi-Chi said sadly. "I'm stuck here until I can find a way out. Go on ahead."

"Well, almost a thousand years ago, Vishnu was ruled by King Dasaratha. King Dasaratha had four sons by three wives. Yet could only choose one as his heir. He ended up choosing his son, Rama as heir to the throne. Everyone thought it was a good choice. Prince Rama was not only a skilled and noble warriors, but he was also married to Sita, a beautiful and virtuous princess from another kingdom…"

Chi-Chi laughed harshly. "That evil witch, virtuous?"

"She wasn't a witch yet," Misai reminded her. "Anyway, the wife of Dasaratha's other son, Bharata, became afraid that she would be banished after Dasaratha's death if her own son wasn't crowned king. She convinced Dasaratha to banish Rama from the kingdom. Even though Rama hadn't done anything to deserve exile, he obeyed his father's orders without complaint. He set out into the wilderness with his brother, Lakshmana. He wanted Sita to stay behind at the palace, but Sita was too devoted to Rama. She didn't want to be without him, so she went with them.

"The wilderness of Vishnu was a dangerous place inhabited by fearsome demons. The group was not afraid though. They managed to survive in the wilderness until one day, when Ravana, the leader of the demons, set his sights on Sita… 

"While Rama and Lakshmana were out hunting, Ravana visited Sita. He asked her why a princess of Vishnu was living in the woods when she should be in a palace, being waited on hand and foot. He tried to convince her to leave Rama and become his queen, but Sita refused.

"Ravana wouldn't take no for an answer. He captured her and brought her to his lair. When Rama found out, he and Lakshmana raced to the demon's lair. There, they fought many of the demons in order to get to Ravana. During the whole battle, Ravana tried to get Sita to forsake Rama and marry him. Sita remained true to Rama and refused him.

"In short, Rama finally confronted Ravana and killed him. News of Ravana's defeat and Sita's rescue spread to Dasaratha's kingdom. Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana returned and were warmly welcomed back to the kingdom. Not too long afterwards, Dasaratha died, and Rama and Sita were crowned king and queen.

"Their happiness didn't last long though. The people started spreading rumors about Sita's stay with Ravana. After all, she had stayed with a man other than her husband…"

"That doesn't make sense," Chi-Chi said, puzzled. "I thought that Sita refused to be with anyone but Rama."

"She did," Misai insisted, "but on my planet, women --- even royal women --- are given very little trust. In order to prevent discontent from spreading among his subjects, Rama banished Sita."

Chi-Chi was shocked. "What? But --- But that's not fair! Even after she went with him into exile and didn't betray him to Ravana, he _doubted_ her?"

Misai shrugged. "No one knew for sure. Some say that Rama believed the lies, others say that he only did it because he had no other choice. Either way, Rama found another queen in time… until one day, when he and his wife were found dead in the palace. That was around the time Sita resurfaced as a sorceress…"

"Did she do it?" Chi-Chi gasped.

"Probably. I mean, after what he did, could you blame her?"

Chi-Chi sat there in silence. She had been very affected by the story, because in a strange way, she could relate to Sita --- or at least what Sita had been. It was disturbing to think that she was like the sorceress who had hurt her husband…

Yet they were very much alike. Both of them were princesses. Both of them were married to warriors. But more importantly, Chi-Chi also knew what it was like to have her husband leave her, to be hurt by his every departure…

Only what happened to Sita and what happened to her was completely different. Goku was nothing like Rama. He trusted Chi-Chi too much to ever think that she had cheated on him. He never would have deserted her based on rumors that others believed.

"No wonder she's so obsessed with men who wrong women," Chi-Chi said softly.

"Well, I can't say that she's wrong," Misai said bitterly. "Don't get me wrong, I know that Sita is evil, but the majority of men she had slain had it coming. I can personally guarantee you that men on Vishnu were real bastards. Almost half the population of women went to Sita because their lovers treated them so badly…"

"Were _you_ one of them?" Chi-Chi asked sharply.

"You could say that," Misai said carefully.

"And that's why you're in Hell?" she figured out. "Because you had Sita kill your lover?"

"No, I'm in Hell because that bitch sent me here," Misai retorted. "She opened the portal to Hell, and pushed me in."

"Why did she do that?" Chi-Chi wondered.

"The ogres got me as soon as I came," Misai continued, purposely ignoring her question. "I tried to tell them that there was a mistake, but they didn't listen. I've been here ever since. I've tried to escape, but like I said, there's no escaping from Hell. Even if you managed to get out of prison, there's no way you can cross over to the good planets."

"How many times have you tried to escape?" Chi-Chi wanted to know.

"More than I can count," Misai said glumly. "I always tried to get out when an ogre opened my cell to give me food. I'd beat him up and make a run for it. No matter how fast I run, it always ends the same way: the ogres find me, beat the crap out of me, then drag me back to my cell. Then I regroup and come up with another plan."

"You certainly are persistent," Chi-Chi commented.

Misai shrugged. "I have to something while I'm in Hell. It's better than just wasting away."

This gave Chi-Chi an idea. It was a gamble, but if it worked, it could help her "Do you know where Sita is in Hell?"

"Yeah, I heard she was sent to Hell not too long after I was," Misai nodded. "I've Some of the others who are locked in here know her; I heard them say that she lives in a fortress way on the other side of Hell…" She growled. "I wish I could escape so that I could pay her back for trapping me here!"

"Then you can help me!" Chi-Chi said excitedly. "Listen… if I help you get out of here, then will you help me rescue my husband? I can't do it alone…"

Misai shook her head. "Sorry, I can't," she said shortly.

"You _can't_?" Chi-Chi repeated, aghast.

"All right, I _can_ help you," Misai admitted, "but I won't."

"Why not?" Chi-Chi demanded angrily. "Are you scared that she'll destroy you too?"

"It's not about Sita!" Misai said indignantly. "I'm not scared of her! I'm just not going to risk my neck just for some _man_!" 

Chi-Chi was furious, yet she had to remind herself that Misai had lived on a planet where men were horrible, so of course she was biased against men. 

"Look, maybe the men on Vishnu were horrible," she said as patiently as she could, "but I can assure you that he's nothing like them!"

Misai laughed cynically. "You're deluding yourself; all men are alike. Like I said, if he got himself in Hell, he's not worth it."

"You don't even _know_ him!" Chi-Chi said vehemently. "And, yes, he _is_ worth it!"

"Even if he is, you're probably too late anyway," Misai went on. "Sita never spends much time on one man…"

"No, he's still alive!" Chi-Chi cried, shaking her head. "My friend Baba had a vision of him, and he was still alive, but he was being tortured…" 

Thinking of that made her more upset. While her husband was suffering somewhere, the only person who could help her was turning her down! "You have to help me," she pleaded desperately. "If Sita kills him, he'll be gone forever!"

"That's not my problem," Misai said curtly.

Chi-Chi was furious. "Fine!" she snarled. "I'll just escape and go find Sita by myself!"

Misai stared at her in disbelief. "Considering the beating you gave that ogre, I'm sure you can handle yourself. But you're nuts if you think you can take on Sita!"

Needless to say, Chi-Chi was getting really sick of people telling her that she was no match for Sita. "For your information, I'm the daughter of the Ox-King," she told her proudly, "_and_ I used to be a fighter!"

"Well, I hate to break it to you, Princess, but you're way out of your league," Misai said dryly. "Sita isn't only strong, she works with the deepest, darkest magic known to anyone in the universe! Even Rama couldn't defeat her when she came for him, and he was the strongest fighter on Vishnu!"

"I don't care!" Chi-Chi shouted. "I'm not going to let her hurt Goku!"

Misai's eyes widened. "Hold on --- did you say Goku?"

"That's his name," Chi-Chi repeated fiercely. "Son Goku."

"Shh!" Misai hissed, putting a finger to her lips. "You want the others to hear you? Keep your voice down! Now you're telling me that Son Goku --- the Saiyan who fought Frieza, Cell, and Majin Buu --- is your husband?"

"Yes, that's him. How do you know about him?"

Misai poked her arm through the bars of the cell and pointed towards the corridor. "I've heard all about him because everyone that he's ever fought is locked up in this place. I hear them ranting about him all day, especially Frieza. To be honest, it gets a little annoying after a while…

"Anyway, they got to watch him fight Majin Buu a long time ago, but not me." She sighed enviously. "I wish I could have, it was supposed to be quite a fight… From I've heard, he's one of the strongest fighters in the universe --- stronger than Prince Rama was…"

She caught Chi-Chi staring at her with a peculiar look in her eye. "Oh, what do I know?" she said hastily. "Just because he's saved the universe a bunch of times doesn't mean he's any different than the rest of the men." She turned her back on Chi-Chi and faced the wall.

Chi-Chi, on the other hand, saw an opportunity open up. She cleared your throat. "You know, there's a good chance you'll be able to see him fight if you help me," she said slyly.

Misai turned her head slightly.

"You won't necessarily have to help _me_," Chi-Chi went on, pressing her advantage. "You can just take me to where Sita is. Whatever you want to do is up to you, although you really should think about this. After all, it might be the only chance you have to get revenge…"

Misai bit her lip, considering the offer. "Oh, all right," she said grudgingly. "I take you to Sita's place. Only don't expect me to help your husband, because I won't."

"Fine," Chi-Chi said brusquely. She would take all the help she could get.

"So how do you propose we get out of here?" Misai asked, getting down to business. "They always got me when I tried to escape…"

"Probably because you never had anyone to help you," Chi-Chi replied wisely. "And your escape plans have to have a little more thought in it. For Kami's sake, you can't just jump on the guard; if you make a commotion, the others will hear it and know something's going on right away!" 

"Give me a break, it was the best I could think of!" Misai said defensively. "I'd like to see you come up with something better…"

Chi-Chi thought for a moment. "When do the guards give out meals?"

"Once a day," Misai informed her. "They already gave meals a few hours before they brought you here. But one of them will come to patrol in a little while; they do that almost three times a day."

"Good," Chi-Chi said, smiling. "I think I have a plan…"

***

Later, one of the ogres came patrolling down the corridors. Suddenly, Misai poked her head out of the cell. "Help!" she cried frantically. "Somebody get over here! It's an emergency!"

The ogre looked through her cell. Misai was supporting a shivering, pale-faced Chi-Chi by letting her lean on her shoulder. "There's something wrong with the new one," Misai claimed.

"What's wrong with her?" the ogre asked.

"I don't know!" Misai said helplessly. "She's been like this ever since she arrived. She's burning up and she's delirious…"

The ogre frowned suspiciously. "Nothing like this has ever happened before with prisoners. Besides, she doesn't look _that_ ill…"

He reached through the bars to feel Chi-Chi's forehead. Chi-Chi blanched and backed away from Misai and the ogre. She moaned softly and fainted dead away.

Misai bent over the fallen woman, worried. "I'll bet those ogres that brought her in hit her too hard. They might have caused some serious damage…"

"Oh, no!" the ogre groaned fumbling for his keys. "King Yemma has a policy against harming prisoners! I'm going to get fired for this!" He quickly unlocked the cell and went inside to examine Chi-Chi.

To his surprise, Chi-Chi grabbed both of his arms. "What the ---?" was all the ogre had time to utter before Misai struck a stunning blow to the back of his neck. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

Not wasting any time, Chi-Chi stood up and grabbed the ogre's keys. She and Misai hurried out of the cell, locking the door behind them so that the ogre couldn't escape when he came to.

"This way," Misai hissed, pointing to the left direction. "We'll go out the back entrance!"

The two ran down the hall as fast as they could. Chi-Chi, having no idea where she was going, could only follow Misai. They turned a corner, only to find the same two ogres Chi-Chi had encountered earlier.

"You _again_?" the red ogre asked, glaring at Misai. "You never learn, do you?"

Misai punched him in the face so hard that his black eye started to bleed. The blue ogre tried to attack Misai. Chi-Chi saw this and quickly rendered him unconscious, ironically enough, with a karate chop to his neck. "Consider us even!" she said, dusting her hands off with a satisfied air.

The red ogre had his hands pressed to his face. Blood was started to ooze out of his swollen eye where Misai had hit him. He charged blindly towards her. "You little b ---!" he screamed, but before he could finish, Misai seized her chance and kicked him in the stomach, sending him crashing against the wall knocking him out cold.

Once both ogres were down for the count, the two raced on. Misai stopped in front of a door. She opened it, revealing the outside of Hell. They fled as far away from the prison as possible. Neither of them dared to stop or even look back, in case other ogres were pursuing them.

After a while, they stopped running. The two of them sank to the ground, panting with exhaustion. "I think we lost them," Misai said breathlessly. "If anybody else found out we were gone, they would have caught up to us a ways back."

Chi-Chi let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad we got away. To tell you the truth, I was almost afraid that it wouldn't work..."

"I was surprised that we only had to face three ogres," Misai said almost disappointedly. "The last time I tried to escape, I had to take down at least ten of them! I almost feel cheap."

She grinned at Chi-Chi. "You were really good back there, Princess," she complimented her. "I have to hand it to you, your plan worked like a charm. Although you didn't say anything about pretending to pass out…"

"I thought of that at the last minute," Chi-Chi admitted, blushing. "I've fainted enough times to know how to fake it. You were really good too," she added. "Were a fighter in life?"

A wistful look was in Misai's eyes. "No," she said quietly. "But I wanted to be." 

She quickly stood up. "We'd better get a move on. It's a long way to the other side of Hell…"

As Chi-Chi also got to her feet, she heard a familiar voice in her head: "_Chi-Chi, can you hear me? This is King Kai!"_

"Well, it's about time!" she hissed angrily. She was careful to keep her voice down so Misai wouldn't think she was talking to herself. "Why didn't you contact me earlier when I was in prison?"

__

"Sorry to keep you waiting, but we **were** trying to help you!" King Kai explained._ "Baba and I saw what happened through her crystal ball. The only thing I could think of was contacting King Yemma. I told him that you were in Hell looking for Goku. And let me tell you, he wasn't too happy about Baba opening a portal to Hell… _

"He calmed down after I convinced him that it was the only way to save Goku. He went to contact the ogres in Hell to let you out, but I guess you were able to escape on your own."

"Thanks anyway," Chi-Chi said gratefully. "At least we won't have to worry about being chased by ogres anymore…"

__

"What do you mean, 'we'?" King Kai cut her off. _"Don't tell me you're taking that girl with you!"_

"Well… yes," Chi-Chi said slowly.

__

"Are you crazy?" King Kai yelled. _"I told you not to trust anyone in Hell!"_

"She knows where Sita is!" Chi-Chi protested. "Her name is Misai and she was in Hell because Sita trapped her here, though she didn't say why…"

__

"Or so she **claims**," King Kai pointed out. _"Sure, she helped you escape, but she could turn on you at any time! How do you know you can trust her?"_

"Just trust me," Chi-Chi pleaded. "I know what I'm doing!"

__

"Oh, that's a good one!" King Kai replied sarcastically. _"Not only did you tell someone who you are, you also helped another person escape from Hell!"_

"She's the only chance I have in finding Goku!" Chi-Chi argued. "I can't afford not to trust her right now! Besides, Goku always gave everybody the benefit of a doubt. Why shouldn't I?"

__

"Well Goku's too trusting for his own good!" King Kai retorted. _"There's no reason **you **should be careless too!"_

"Look, I don't care what you think right now," Chi-Chi snapped. "I'm the one who's in Hell trying to find Goku, not you! I'm going to follow her whether you like it or not!"

King Kai sighed in frustration. _"Fine, I'll trust your judgement for now, but be careful!" _he warned her. _"I'll contact you as soon as you get to Sita's place."_

"All right," Chi-Chi said as King Kai ended the transmission. She followed Misai in a northern direction, towards more endless, rocky land. She had no idea what lay ahead for her, but whatever it was, she could handle. It would all be worth it to save Goku…

__

Hold on, Goku, I'm coming! she promised silently.

To be continued…

A/N: To those who asked me if Chi-Chi was going to have someone to help her out in Hell, your question has been answered. She can't do it alone, after all. You'll find out more about Misai in the next part. And I know everyone's been formulating their own theories about what Sita wants with Goku, but you aren't going to find out for a few chapters. There will be some hints though… okay, on to the reviews.

Maria Cline: Chi-Chi will be okay; she can still fight and she has Misai to help her now. Yeah, writer's block sucks. My advice to you is to just take your time with your ideas. Find an idea that best fits with the fic, and if you can't, don't worry about it.

Caryl Mc: Chi-Chi's very brave. On Dragon Ball, she kicked some serious butt while trying to find the Bansho fan with Goku, and on DBZ she tried to go to Namek to find Goku and Gohan, and she slapped Majin Buu. Not the wisest thing to do, but it still took some guts on her part.

Carrie2sky: New villains are always fun to read and write :) They're also fun to hate when they do awful things to your favorite characters.

Mijitsu Yume: Cool name! Yes, Goku doesn't deserve to be in Hell, or anything that's going to happen to him in this fic, but it must be done. Can't wait for the reunion… well, you'll be surprised, that's all I can say…

Lady Thundera: Ah, Sita… let's just say when you find out what she's been doing to Goku, I think you'll hate her the same way I hated Apollo from "The Past Returns." Actually, I read the portal idea in "Healing Old Wounds" when Mirai G/CC went to Other World. I just thought I should credit you with the idea in order to avoid being accused of stealing ideas like I was when I wrote, "A Simple Wish."

Gwuinivyre: Why would I be offended? I was just agreeing with you that even though DBZ was mainly an action show, it wouldn't have been bad to elaborate a little more on the relationships. 

Aura: No, Chi-Chi won't be meeting any of the old villains.

I won't tell: You've read _The Ramayana_? Cool! I bet you caught a lot of it in this chapter. When I read it, it reminded me a little bit of G/CC, what with Sita being so faithful to Rama and everything. Sorry, Sita is evil. See my disclaimer for more details for that. And I don't think you'll want her to be reformed when you find out what she's been doing to Goku…

Sara: *imitates Britney Murphy* I'll never tell… Yep, Chi-Chi loves Goku and hasn't waited twenty-five years just to give up.

Jessica C: Chi-Chi is going to use both her brain and her skills. She's got help now too.

Lady Athena X: Chi-Chi proved that she could handle it. She's got more than enough guts to face Sita. Doesn't mean it's going to be easy for her though… *cackles*

Sadako: I think that the G/CC fans will be screaming for Sita's death very soon, especially when they find out about Goku…

Winner: Thank you!

Sakura123: I hope your computer gets fixed soon. I'm sure Bardock went to Hell, seeing as how he was a Saiyan and the only decent thing he did was stand up to Frieza at the last minute. He was pretty hot though :) Does anybody know anything about Goku's mom? They don't even mention her in the Bardock movie!

Kitty: Thank you!


	6. Part Six

Part Six

"I'd think we'd better rest for a while," Misai said wearily, stopping in her tracks. "If we keep going nonstop, we'll be too tired to even fight Sita."

Chi-Chi nodded reluctantly. Actually, she really wanted to keep going; she couldn't stand to stop, even for one moment. Every moment that was spent trying to actually get to Sita's fortress gave Sita more time to torment Goku… 

But Misai was right. It would take all the strength they could get to possibly defeat her, let alone fight her.

The two of them sat down on the rocky ground. Nearly three days had passed since they had escaped the prison --- at least, Chi-Chi _thought_ it was three days. It was difficult to tell since time passed so quickly in Other World.

Chi-Chi sighed as her mind returned once more to Goku. She had always hated being apart from him, not knowing what was happening to him. This had been the case for her when he and Gohan had spent most of the time training for the Androids, and when he went off to train Uub. At least when he was dead, she knew where he was. 

Now it was even worse for her, because she knew exactly what was happening to Goku in Hell. Sita was torturing him… 

__

Torturing him! Her fists clenched. The mere thought of it made her burn with anger. Even worse, there was nothing she could do to stop it until she and Misai came to her lair…

She still couldn't figure out why Sita killed Goku in the first place. From what Misai and Baba had told her, Sita never acted alone. Someone had to have gotten her to do it --- but who?

"Thinking about your husband?" Misai asked quietly.

"What?" Chi-Chi muttered, startled. "Oh… yeah," she muttered. 

Throughout the whole journey, Misai hardly said much, except to explain which direction they were going in and when they should stop. It made Chi-Chi even more curious about her. She wondered if she had made the right choice in trusting her. Like King Kai said, she _was_ in Hell…

True, she claimed that Sita had thrown her into Hell. Yet there was a strong possibility that she could be lying. Misai had hinted that she was one of the women had had requested Sita to kill their lovers --- her attitude towards men certainly proved that to be true. If Sita were on the side of abused women on Vishnu, then why would she send one of them to Hell?

__

She's the only one who knows where Sita is, she reminded herself. _I didn't have a choice. Even if she was in Hell, I should give her the benefit of doubt. Goku would do the same…_

But you aren't Goku, a voice in her head pointed out. _And King Kai was right; he is too trusting for his own good sometimes. You're in Hell, remember? You can't be too careful. _

Misai caught Chi-Chi staring at her. "What are you looking at?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Nothing," Chi-Chi lied.

There was an awkward pause of silence between the two. Chi-Chi didn't really know what to say to Misai. After all, she had only just met her…

Misai broke the silence. "So… what else is on your mind, Princess?"

Chi-Chi frowned. "Would you please stop calling me that?" Ever since they'd left the prison, Misai had kept calling her 'Princess.' It was fine for the first few times, but had become very annoying.

"You said you were the daughter of a king," Misai said calmly. "That makes you a princess."

"I _was_ a princess," Chi-Chi corrected her curtly. "Then I married Goku and I gave up my title." 

"You gave up royalty to marry him?" Misai asked, surprised. "Did you have any brothers or sisters to take the throne?"

"No, I was an only child."

"Then… wasn't there a big fuss from your father about marrying him?"

Chi-Chi shook her head. "My father didn't mind. Whatever made me happy made him happy."

Misai looked baffled by this. "Back on my planet, a girl's parents always arranged her marriage. She didn't have a voice in the matter; she either had to obey their wishes or be disowned."

"Well, things are a little bit different on Earth," Chi-Chi told her matter-of-factly.

There was another awkward pause. Then Misai asked, rather hesitantly, "Will you tell me about Goku? I mean, I've heard about how great a fighter he was… only what was he _like_?"

"He _is _strong… one of the bravest, strongest people I've ever known," Chi-Chi said softly. "No matter how bad things got, he always looked on the bright side of things. He's really naïve and eats more than any other person I know, but he's a good man. He's also very sweet and gentle." She smiled. "I don't think I could have married a better man."

She went on to tell Misai about her life with Goku. She told her about how she'd met him as a little girl; about the "promise" he made to marry her; about Gohan and Goten… she even went into some detail about the numerous battles Goku had.

Misai listened to all of this intently. Chi-Chi almost thought that she was beginning to change her mind about Goku --- that is, until she told her how Goku left to train Uub. 

"Ha!" Misai shouted with a derisive laugh. "I knew it! He's just like all the other men! Why else would Sita drag him down to Hell?"

"He is not!" Chi-Chi said furiously.

"Yes, he is!" Misai said in disgust. "What kind of man leaves his family just to train a boy? I can understand him leaving you to fight all those other times because he either died or had to save the universe… but if he was willing to leave you just so that he can have fun training a kid, then he didn't even care about you at all."

"That's not true!" Chi-Chi said vehemently. "He _did_ care --- that's the reason why he trained Uub; he wanted to be sure someone would protect the Earth after he died!"

" If he wanted to train the boy, he could have just brought him to live with you and the rest of your family," Misai pointed out.

"Uub's family was poor!" Chi-Chi protested. "He couldn't just leave them!"

Misai snorted. "That's still no excuse for your husband to desert you like that."

"It's not like he was going away _forever_," Chi-Chi tried to explain. "He came back to visit every few weeks…"

"_Visit?_" Misai repeated incredulously. "He was going to live with strangers and _visit _his own wife? I don't get it… were you mad at him?" 

Chi-Chi bit her lip and looked at the ground. "I was… at first." As she said this, a troubling memory came to her mind…

__

Chi-Chi was staring sadly at all the food she had prepared for dinner. She had cooked too much again; it was a constant habit. Normally, it would have been enough for Goku, Gohan, and Goten to eat, since the Saiyans had big appetites. 

But Gohan had his own family now, and Goku was off training Uub. It was just she and Goten now.

It had been nearly three weeks since Goku just took off with Uub during the Martial Arts Tournament. She hadn't heard from him since. Not that she was expecting anything. She shouldn't have been surprised by his sudden departure; Goku was always leaving to fight.

Yet since Goku had come back to life ten years ago, she thought that he'd stay home for good. That things would finally go back to normal and she and Goku could spend the rest of their lives together like any other married couple should… 

But no, he had to leave again.

****

Does he even miss me at all? she wondered bitterly. **He's probably too busy training with Uub to even think about me. Was he planning on leaving this whole time? Was he just going to stay until some new challenge came along? Kami, how much more of this can I take?**

Goten came bounding down the stairs. "Hey, Mom!" he said cheerfully, taking a big whiff of the delicious smell of the food. He licked his lips hungrily. "This looks great!"

He turned his head to look at her, and noticed that she was upset. His face fell. "Mom, what's wrong?" he asked, concerned

"Nothing," Chi-Chi lied, trying in vain to force her tears back. "Nothing's wrong…"

Goten seemed to know otherwise. "It's Dad, isn't it?" he asked gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. 

Chi-Chi tore herself away from her son's hand. She spent a few moments staring angrily at the floor. All the sadness, bitterness, and anger boiled up inside of her.

"Mom, it's okay if you miss Dad," Goten said quietly. "I miss him too; everybody does. Even Gohan does…"

She finally snapped. "Miss him? Why should I miss him? Why bother missing someone who leaves you all the time, no matter what the circumstances are?" 

She was unable to stop herself. Every single bitter, angry thought she had kept to herself came rushing out of her mouth. "I hate him!" she cried. "I hate that he always leaves whenever he wants! It would be easier for everybody if he never came back!"

Silence. Goten stared at his mother, stunned. 

Chi-Chi's eyes widened and filled with tears as she realized what she had just said. Did she really hate him?

No. No, she didn't. She hated the fact that he always left, but no, she could never hate him…

Goten suddenly whirled around behind him, as though sensing something Chi-Chi couldn't. "I thought I heard something…" he muttered. He looked out the hallway leading to the kitchen. 

"That's weird," Goten said, walking back into the kitchen. "I could have sworn that…" he shook his head. "Never mind."

He turned back to his mother. "You…you didn't really mean that, did you, Mom?" he asked pleadingly.

Chi-Chi shook her head, ashamed of her outburst. "N-No," she admitted, starting to cry. "I'm sorry, Goten…I didn't mean it. It's just that…oh, why does he always have to leave? Doesn't he care about us?"

"He **does** care, Mom," Goten assured her, giving his mother a much-needed hug. "I was mad at him too…Gohan still is. But I know that he doesn't mean to hurt us."

Chi-Chi sniffed. "I know…I know he doesn't mean to, but it still hurts. I just wanted him to stay home. Is that so much to ask?"

"He said that he'd be back," Goten reminded her. "Besides, he was right. He and Vegeta aren't going to be around forever, you know. Somebody has to defend the Earth…"

Chi-Chi nodded tearfully.

"And you still have me and Gohan," Goten added softly. "I won't be leaving the house anytime soon."

Chi-Chi smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way, sweetie." She sighed. "Come on, help me set the table for dinner…"

Chi-Chi frowned at that memory. She wished she could take back what she said about Goku. She hadn't meant it. It didn't matter now; what's done was done

"He came back to visit about four weeks later," she went on. "By then, I kind of understood why he left, so I wasn't that angry with him. I didn't yell at him or anything. I acted like there was nothing wrong…"

Misai raised an eyebrow. "You mean you never told him how you felt?"

"Why bother?" Chi-Chi asked, shrugging. "It wouldn't have stopped him. I acted like there was nothing wrong. I sort of kept him at a distance --- not because I was mad at him --- I just knew that it would be harder to let him go if we got too close."

"So how did you act towards him?"

Chi-Chi bit her lip. "I was friendly; I asked how Uub was and everything… and we still slept in the same bed… but we weren't…"

"Intimate?" Misai finished her sentence.

"That is none of your business!" Chi-Chi told her severely. 

Misai just stared at her. The look on her face made it plainly obvious that she knew the answer to her own question. Chi-Chi flushed angrily and looked at the ground.

"Ah," Misai said with an understanding nod. "Did he notice that something was wrong?"

"I'm sure he did," Chi-Chi said grimly. "He kept asking me if I was all right, and I kept saying that I was fine. He knew was lying though. I could tell by the way he looked at me….

"More than anything, I wanted to tell him how I felt and be closer to him, but somehow, I kept it to myself. The same thing happened every time he visited: we'd talk, I'd cook, we'd sleep, and that was about it."

"How long did it last before he died?"

"A year and a half," Chi-Chi replied dully. "The last time he visited, just before he left, he looked like he wanted to tell me something. I asked him what it was. He just stared at me for a moment. Then he said, 'Never mind,' and left."

"So you never resolved it?" Misai asked.

"No," Chi-Chi said sadly, "and it's been bothering me ever since."

Misai was silent for some time. "Well, I don't blame you," she said finally. "Men always expect everything to be the same, no matter what happens." 

Chi-Chi glared at her. "That wasn't it! I just didn't want to be hurt again… but keeping him at distance just made me feel worse. But I'm going to tell him," she declared. "When we find him, I'm going to tell him everything so we can get off to a fresh start."

"What do you mean, 'we'?" Misai asked coolly. "I recall agreeing to take you to Sita's place. I never said I'd help you find him. And after what you told me, I can't understand why you'd want to save him from Sita. I don't even know why you stayed married to him after he left you like that."

"Of course I was still married to him!" Chi-Chi snapped. "No matter how many times he leaves, he always comes back! I knew he'd come back once he was finished training Uub. And if wasn't for Sita, he would have!"

"Yeah, right," Misai scoffed. "You sound just like those battered housewives I knew back on Vishnu."

"Excuse me, but I am not a 'battered wife!'" Chi-Chi shrieked indignantly. "And unlike the women on Vishnu, I didn't stay with Goku because I had to; I stayed with him because I love him! Why would I be in Hell looking for him if I _didn't_ want to stay with him?"

Misai rolled her eyes. "Not all women stayed with their husbands just because they were forced to. They were the only ones who didn't go to Sita; apparently, they were under the delusion that their husbands loved them, even after how much they hurt them."

"You don't get it," Chi-Chi said fiercely. "I know that Goku didn't mean to hurt me. I've been with him too long to ever think that he doesn't love me!" She stared at Misai. "Haven't _you_ ever been in love before?" she asked quietly

"No," Misai said shortly.

"What have you got against men, anyway?" Chi-Chi wanted to know. "I know that the men on Vishnu were terrible, but you seem really bitter about it…"

"I've learned not to trust them," Misai said brusquely. 

"Why?" Chi-Chi demanded. "I know that the men on Vishnu were terrible, but what did they do to you?"

"Come on, Princess, let's get a move on," Misai said hastily, standing up. "The sooner we get to Sita's, the better."

Chi-Chi followed her without a word. _She's hiding something,_ she thought. _Something terrible happened to her on Vishnu. Why else would she react like that?_

She found herself looking at the two scars on Misai's face. She suddenly had an idea how she got them.

***

While they continued their trek, Chi-Chi tried to make conversation with Misai. She wanted to know more about this strange, sad girl and whether or not she was trustworthy. 

"So, you've been in Hell for a few centuries?" Chi-Chi asked as they walked.

"Yes," Misai replied.

"Do you miss your family?" 

"No."

"You don't?" Chi-Chi was stunned. "How come?"

"They had a different view of my future," Misai said quietly. "My father, particularly."

"You mean he wanted you to get married?" Chi-Chi inquired.

Misai nodded. "Normally, girls on Vishnu were married off at fourteen, but luckily for me, I was sort of a late bloomer. I was grateful; I never wanted to get married. For girls on Vishnu, marriage meant the end of what little freedom you had to begin with. I didn't want to be somebody's wife, I wanted to be s_omebody_."

"You wanted to be a warrior," Chi-Chi said, remembering what Misai had mentioned upon their escape from the prison. "But there weren't women warriors on Vishnu, right?"

Misai laughed sardonically. "On Vishnu, our purpose was to cook for men, clean for men, wait for men to return from their battles, and breed for men."

"That's terrible," Chi-Chi murmured. "How come you wanted to be warrior, Misai?"

Misai bit her lip. "Well… my brother was a warrior," she said slowly. 

"Really?" Chi-Chi was interested. "What was his name?"

"Rhakishi. He was almost eight years older than I was. When I was little, he used to tell me the story of Prince Rama and his battle with Ravana. Until I found out about the part with Sita, which he conveniently left out, I loved those stories.

They made me want to go out and have my own adventures… but I couldn't. 

"When Rhakishi turned sixteen, he enlisted to be a warrior and left home to train. I was really jealous, but I was proud of him too. Every time he left for a battle, I'd wait day after day for his return. And when he returned to visit, I was the first to greet him."

"Was he strong?" Chi-Chi asked.

A slight smile crossed Misai's face. "To me, he was," she said quietly. "He was my hero; I couldn't hear enough of the battles and adventures he had." She shook her head, as though she were ashamed of herself. "You must think that's silly."

"No, not at all," Chi-Chi assured her. "My youngest son, Goten, was the same way. He idolized Gohan when he was little, even when he put on that ridiculous Saiyaman outfit…" 

"After I turned fourteen, I was tired of hearing about his adventures," Misai continued. "I wanted to have my own. But I knew it was impossible; women were forbidden to fight. So I asked Rhakishi to start training me in secret whenever he came home to visit. He agreed to do it, though I don't really know why… maybe he'd thought it would be amusing to see how a girl could fight."

"How much do you know about fighting?" Chi-Chi asked curiously.

Misai grinned widely. She almost looked like Goku whenever he was really excited about an upcoming battle. "Not much," she said modestly. "It was mostly the sort of stuff you saw back at the prison. I know a bit of hand-to-hand combat and some martial arts skills. And I don't mean to brag, but I'm excellent with a sword.

"It took a few years for me to get in the hang of it. Once I did, I could easily beat my brother in sparring --- well, as long as he didn't use ki blasts on me. He was going to teach me to how to perform those, but my father found out. Needless to say, he put an end to it…"

Her smile faded as she said this. She stopped walking, seemingly staring off into space.

Chi-Chi watched her closely. "What happened after that?"

"He put an end to it, of course," Misai said obviously. "Why don't you tell me more about your sons?"

But Chi-Chi wasn't about to change the subject so easily again. "How did he do it?"

"My life is none of your business, Princess," Misai snapped.

"Yes, it is!" Chi-Chi said sternly. "I told you everything about _my_ life. Why can't you tell me about _yours_?"

"I guess I'm not as open as you are," Misai said shortly.

"Look, Misai, how am I supposed to trust you if I don't even know about you?" Chi-Chi asked impatiently.

"Frankly, Princess, I don't care whether you trust me or not," Misai said flatly. "I didn't force you to follow me, _you_ were the one who insisted that I show you where Sita is. I'm just fulfilling my end of the bargain. What do you want to know about me?

"How about the reason why Sita threw you in Hell?" Chi-Chi shot back. 

"Again, that's none of your business. I didn't force you to trust me; you were the one who insisted that I show you where Sita is!"

"Unless you're lying…"

"I'm not lying!" Misai yelled vehemently. "I just… I just don't want to talk about it, all right?"

"Why not?" Chi-Chi demanded. "Why would Sita turn against you when she was supposed to be granting your wish?"

"Because I asked her to!" Misai burst out.

Silence. Chi-Chi stared at her in disbelief. "You… you _asked_ her to send you to Hell?"

"No… I just wanted to get away!" She turned away from Chi-Chi and started to run off.

Chi-Chi ran after her. "Wait!" she exclaimed. "You wanted to get away? Why? Because of a man?"

Misai froze. Then she slowly turned to face her.

"What happened, Misai?" Chi-Chi asked in a softer tone. 

Misai bit her lip, hesitating.

"Come on, you can tell me," Chi-Chi urged.

Misai sank down to the ground, and Chi-Chi did the same. Misai rested her head between her knees. Her eyes were wide and glassy, as though she were remembering something she would have rather forgotten.

"My father wanted me to get married right after he caught Rhakishi training me," she began in a flat, emotionless voice. "By then, I was seventeen. Most girls already had a child by that age. My father said that the sooner I was married, the sooner I would start 'behaving myself' and accept the duties I had as a woman. The problem was none of the boys or men really saw me fit to be a wife.

"Then Rhakishi introduced my father to his friend, Amar. He was warrior too, and he said that he'd be glad to take me as his wife. My father thrilled and began preparing the wedding immediately.

"I don't think I need to tell you that this was the last thing in the world I wanted to do. At first, I wanted to think of a way out of it. However, Amar seemed more decent than most of the men I knew. And he was my brother's friend. I thought, 'Rhakishi is my brother. He wouldn't convince my father to marry someone who was awful.' I decided to go through with it. I trusted my brother. And why shouldn't I? He'd never let me down before…

"So my wedding day came. I put on a happy face and pretended to be excited. But I thought that it was the worst day of my life. I was giving up my dreams to do the one thing I swore I'd never do."

Misai paused. The haunted look in her eyes became more apparently. "Before I knew it, it was nighttime, and I was in Amar's house. Even though I chose to get married, I wasn't really for my wedding night, if you know what I mean. But I wasn't worried. I went straight to my new husband and told him, figuring that he would understand…

"At first he thought I was joking. When he found out I wasn't, he told me that this was tradition. We had to consummate our vows. I told him that we didn't necessarily have to do it on our wedding night; it didn't mean I wasn't ready for him ever, I just wasn't ready for him _now_. 

"He kept trying to convince me otherwise, but I stood my ground. And then…" Misai faltered. She pushed her bangs aside, pointing shakily to the scar above her eyebrow. "He hit me… I tried to fight him, yet even with my brother's training, I was no match for a warrior who was older that I was… and… and…"

"He raped you," Chi-Chi finished, horror-struck. She shouldn't have been surprised, after what she had heard about the men from Vishnu. Still, Misai was so young when this happened. She certainly hadn't deserved to have this happen to her.

Misai shivered. Tears fell from her eyes. "It was the worst night of my life. Up until then, he'd acted so nice… but he was just the others," she said bitterly. "I knew I never should have agreed to marrying him, only it was too late to do anything. On Vishnu, once you were married, you _stayed _married.

"I won't tell you everything that happened to me, but it was awful. I couldn't go see my family, because I was now Amar's 'property,'" she said spitefully. "I had to stay in the house most of the time, unless I needed to go to the market for food. I had to obey Amar's every order, and if I didn't… well, you get the idea. 

"The only good thing about being married to him was that he wasn't home much, since he was called off to battles. Whenever he came home, he expected food to be cooked, the house cleaned, or else. Being alone was nearly as bad. I was confined in an empty house most of the time. I almost felt like a prisoner."

Chi-Chi found herself nodding as she said this. She certainly knew how _that_ was like.

"I didn't know what to do," she said, her voice trembling. "I wanted to escape, but Vishnu's technology was so poor that we didn't have enough spaceships. I heard of women who escaped through suicide, but I wasn't so desperate to take the coward's way out…

"Then I heard about Sita from a group of women in the marketplace. Sita was a secret to the women of Vishnu; if the men ever knew about her, they would destroy her. As soon as I heard, I headed straight for her lair.

"When I got there, Sita greeted me as though I were a sister. She asked if I came to request my husband's death. I wasn't sure what to do. I did hate Amar and I certainly didn't want to be his wife any longer, but I was starting to have second thoughts. I wasn't a cold-blooded killer, after all…

"But then Sita told me she had seen what he had done to me. She reminded me of how my dreams, freedom, dignity, and virginity had been cruelly stripped away from me. The memory of that night made me furious… and so I agreed.

"Amar came home that night. I cooked his dinner and cleaned up after him. Then, of course, he wanted sex. I wasn't about to make the same mistake twice, so I went through it… but to me, it still felt as though he had forced himself on me.

"The next morning, I woke up to find the bed empty. This wasn't surprising, since he left whenever he pleased. I went to fix breakfast, as usual, when I found him dead on the floor… his entire body had been turned inside out."

"Oh, Kami!" Chi-Chi whispered in revulsion.

"I knew Sita did it," Misai said grimly. "But I was still freaked out. If anybody came and found the body, they'd think I had done it. In a way, I _had_, only I couldn't tell anybody about Sita. So I did the only thing I could do: I wrapped the body in a bed sheet, pretending it was laundry to wash by the river, and went to bury it in the forest…

"I met Rhakishi on the way back. He had been to Amar's house and found blood on the floor. He saw the dirt on my hands, and demanded to know what was going on. I didn't know what to do. He asked so many questions… and I couldn't lie to my brother. Even after everything Amar did to me, I still trusted Rhakishi. I was convinced that he didn't know about Amar's cruel nature. I thought that he could help me…"

"So you told him what happened?" Chi-Chi asked quietly.

Misai nodded. "I went to his house and told him everything. When I had finished, he said not to worry, he would take care of everything. He offered me a room for the night. I took it gratefully…

"I woke in the middle of the night to find his fellow soldiers in his home." She shut her eyes, more tears squeezing out of them. "Rhakishi betrayed me. He told them everything."

"Your own brother sold you out?" Chi-Chi asked, stunned.

"Some brother," Misai said bitterly. "He had known how Amar would treat me, yet he practically sold me to Amar's bride! I would have done anything for him, and he sold me out!

"The punishment for murder was death. I managed to fight them off and escape, but not before Rhakishi gave me this," she added, pointing to the scar on her cheek. "I didn't know where else to turn, so I went back to Sita. She knew that the soldiers would be coming to kill her soon, yet she said that she could handle them. I asked her to send me to a place where I could be free…"

"And she sent you to Hell," Chi-Chi said quietly. "Because you told Rhakishi about you?"

"Partly," Misai said venomously. "But that wasn't the complete reason. I realized that Sita hadn't really cared about the women of Vishnu; she only helped them because she got a kick out of slaughtering men she considered to be like Rama. And like the stupid chump I was, I went to her for help."

And then there was silence. Chi-Chi stared at her, lost for words. "I'm… I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I never thought…"

"Yeah, well, it's not going to change anything," Misai said testily, angrily brushing the tears from her eyes.

__

Poor Misai, Chi-Chi thought sadly. All doubts she had about Misai had completely evaporated from her mind. _No wonder she's so bitter. I would be too, if that had happened to me._

Misai stood up, determinedly not looking at Chi-Chi. "Let's get going, we'll be there soon."

"I understand how you feel," Chi-Chi said sincerely. "But you're wrong, Misai. Not all men are awful…"

Misai barked a laugh. "Like your precious Goku, who left you constantly?"

"He never did anything like that to me," Chi-Chi said firmly. "You'll change your mind once you meet him, I promise."

"_If_ I meet him," Misai pointed out.

"What… what do you mean 'if'?" Chi-Chi asked fearfully.

"Goku has been in Sita's lair for twenty-five years!" Misai explained. "Maybe he was still alive when Baba saw him, and he is strong, but there's no sure way of knowing whether he's faded into nonexistence or not. For all we know, he could have died several moments ago."

Chi-Chi stared at her. "Well," she said in a voice of deadly calm, "then I suggest you take me there right now."

"As you wish, Princess," Misai mocked, bowing.

"Would you stop calling me Princess?" Chi-Chi complained as they started off again.

"Does it really bother you that much?"

"Yes, it does!"

"Would you like me to stop?"

"Yes

"Then no, I don't think I'll stop, Princess…"

To be continued…

A/N: I know most of you are probably wondering about that flashback. Let me explain: Chi-Chi was probably very angry with Goku at first (and you can't blame her), but she eventually understood why he left with Uub. She's not angry anymore though, so don't worry.

Sara: I remember the movie _A Little Princess_. In fact, when I read _The Ramayana_ in school, I recognized it as the legend that Sarah told her friends in the movie. Oh yeah, I think you'll be very angry when you find out what's been happening to Goku… which conveniently will be the next chapter ;)

I won't tell: To tell you the truth, Sita reminded me a little bit of Chi-Chi, with how she was so loyal to Rama. And the part when Rama gave Ravana a hero's funeral after he killed him reminded me of how Goku buried Vegeta after he died in the Frieza saga. No, Misai isn't really like Hanuman, but she is helping Chi-Chi, however reluctantly.

Misao the Weasel Girl: A grammar book? Weird…

Jessica C: Misai's a good person. As you can see in this chapter, she had a hard life and has reason not to trust men. The action will start in the next chapter!

Caryl Mc: Your questions about Misai were answered in this chapter. Yes, they were the same ogres, but I couldn't really remember what they looked like. It doesn't matter; Hell was probably full of ogres in DBZ.

Kinoha Chi: Her name is Misai, but I really did get inspired for her character from Misao in _Rurouni Kenshin_. I really liked her. Yep, you were right about Misai! Ten points to you!

Carrie2sky: Misai is trustworthy. Can't wait for the reunion? Just wait until the next chapter! *laughs evilly*

Cb: Chi-Chi can definitely handle herself. Remember when Goten and Trunks were fighting these two brothers in the World Tournament, and their mother was being a real pain until Chi-Chi punched her lights out? You found out more about Misai in this chapter. 

Arain Rowan: No, I guess ogres aren't the best prison guards, are they? LOL!

Sakura123: Interesting analysis about Hell in the DBZ universe. You're right, one good deed doesn't excuse a lifetime of bad deeds. Vegeta was probably in Hell when Frieza killed him, but after he killed himself to destroy Majin Buu, he got to keep his body. And when he and Goku were fighting Kid Buu on Namek, Vegeta wished that all the good people on Earth would be restored to life --- and he was among the resurrected. Xena, Goku's mother?! Who came up with that idea? Xena isn't even in the DBZ universe! Besides, Goku already has an Amazon for a wife, why would he need one for a mother? 

Mijitsu Yume: Just how much of a bitch is Sita? You'll soon find out…

Lady Athena X: Chi-Chi does want to destroy Sita, but even with Misai, she has a lot of odds against her. You'll have to wait and see if Misai will change her mind about Goku. After what she's been told about him, it doesn't seem likely, does it? And speaking of Goku, you'll find out about him in the next chapter…

Emily: Thank you!

Lady Thundera: You're right about Fauna/Fasha, she is not Goku's mom. My guess is that Goku's mom died in childbirth or something, which kind of explains why Bardock didn't want to see him after he was born --- other than the fact that he didn't seem to care. *Chi-Chi enters the room with a large catapult* Chi-Chi: Great idea! You strap her to the catapult, and I'll pull the switch! Me: Sorry, you can't have catapults in Hell. Chi-Chi *glaring at me*: Hey, I've been reading your little outline for this story! Me: You have? *gulp* Uh-oh… Chi-Chi: You are so dead! *starts chasing me around the room, while I'm screaming for help*

Woman of the Dundain: Save Goku, huh? We'll see…

Kyona: Thanks. Goku and Chi-Chi are my favorite couple too.

Sadako: Misai and Chi-Chi are going to kick some more ass in the next chapter! What can I say, I love it when women are action heroes; I guess I'm kind of a feminist. Yeah, those ogres had it coming, but they won't be bothering Chi-Chi for the time being.


	7. Part Seven

Disclaimer: There is a small, yet obvious reference to _Lord of the Rings_. It was one of my favorite parts in the whole movie, and I couldn't resist using it.

Part Seven

King Kai and Baba stood on Snake Way, watching Chi-Chi and Misai trek their way through Hell via Baba's crystal ball. "How much longer until you think they'll get there?" King Kai wondered.

"It doesn't look like much longer," Baba said. "They're almost to the other side of Hell."

King Kai sighed. "Do you really think that Chi-Chi has a chance against this Sita character?"

Baba shook her head. "She's a powerful sorceress. Even with that girl helping her, Chi-Chi will be lucky if she even survives this. And if she doesn't…"

"She'll be gone forever," King Kai finished her sentence. As he stared at Chi-Chi's image in the crystal ball, a sudden idea occurred to him. "Even if she can't do it, Goku's there. He'll be able to help them fight Sita."

"I doubt it," Baba said grimly. "When I saw him in my crystal ball… well, let's just say that he was in no condition to stand, let alone fight."

King Kai looked worried. "What has Sita been doing to him?"

"I don't know, and after what I saw, I don't think I want to know," Baba said with a shiver. 

"That doesn't sound good. Do you think he still exists in the afterlife? I mean, Sita hasn't finished him off yet, has she?"

"There's only one way to find out," Baba replied. She waved her hands and started chanting under her breath. The images of Misai and Chi-Chi transformed into an image of Sita's fortress. 

Baba peered closely into her ball, trying to see inside the fortress. Her eyes widened, and she let out a gasp of horror. "Oh Kami!"

"What is it?" King Kai asked anxiously. "Did you see Goku?" He shoved Baba aside so that he could look in the ball. Then he saw what Baba had seen.

"Is --- is he…?" Baba asked faintly. "I mean, he looks like he's…"

King Kai shook his head. "No, he isn't. But he's getting close." He walked to the edge of Snake Way and concentrated. "I have to contact Chi-Chi right away…"

***

"How much further is it?" Chi-Chi wanted to know.

"We're almost there," Misai grunted, trying not to slip on the rocks.

They were climbing a large, steep mountain. According to Misai, Sita's fortress was located over the mountain. Chi-Chi was glad that the journey was almost over; traveling in Hell was not a pleasant experience. But a part of her dreaded at what she'd find at Sita's lair.

In order to keep herself from going insane with worry, she had to convince herself that if Goku was strong enough to survive torture for twenty-five years, then he couldn't possibly have just given up now. Perhaps it was because he had been fighting most of his life, but Goku had a high endurance for pain --- unless, of course, it concerned needles.

__

I hope she hasn't been using **those **on him, she thought worriedly. _Oh, don't be silly, Chi-Chi, she's a witch. If she has as much powers as everyone says, why would she waste time using needles?_

A sudden voice in her head interrupted her thoughts. _"Chi-Chi, this is King Kai. Can you hear me?"_

"Yeah, I can hear you," she said, trying to keep her voice down and her grip on the rocks at the same time. "What's going on, King Kai?"

__

"How far are you from Sita's place?" King Kai demanded.

"We're almost there," Chi-Chi answered, trying to climb the mountain. Misai had just reached the top, and was looking over the edge, waiting for Chi-Chi. 

__

"Listen, I don't mean to put any pressure on you, but you need to hurry!" King Kai said urgently.

"Why? What happened?" Chi-Chi asked in alarm.

__

Baba just used her crystal ball to find Goku again, and… and…

"And what?" Chi-Chi asked. The tone of his voice frightened her; it sounded as though he had just witnessed something awful. 

"What happened?" she asked again in a louder voice.

Unfortunately, Misai had heard her. She stared bewilderedly at Chi-Chi. "Who are you talking to, Princess?" she asked.

Chi-Chi didn't even hear her. "King Kai, tell me what happened!" she shouted, terrified of the answer.

__

"You just need to hurry, all right?" was King Kai's only response before he ended the transmission.

"Oh no…" Chi-Chi whispered. She felt cold all over. Something had happened to Goku, she knew it…

In her distress, she reached out to climb further up the mountain, but her hand slipped. Chi-Chi screamed, about to fall, when fortunately, Misai quickly grabbed her hand, pulling her to safety towards the top.

"You need to be careful!" Misai warned her as Chi-Chi caught her breath. "If you'd fallen off, you would have been killed --- again." She took note of the scared look on Chi-Chi's face. "What's the matter with you?"

"We need to got to Sita!" Chi-Chi cried, stumbling to her feet. "Now!"

"Whoa, take it easy, Princess!" Misai exclaimed, holding up her hands. "Why are you in such a rush, all of a sudden?"

Chi-Chi considered the girl for a moment, wondering if she should tell her. Since Misai had opened up about her past, there was no longer suspicion between the two of them. Although Misai was bitter, smart-alecky, and cynical, Chi-Chi thought that she wasn't such a bad person. Besides, she already knew about her life, she might as well tell her the whole truth.

"Goku's old master, King Kai just contacted me," Chi-Chi explained shakily. "I think that something bad just happened to him!"

"Well, we're almost there," Misai assured her, pointing to the land on the other side of the mountain. In the distance, Chi-Chi could see a tower. "That's Sita's fortress. As soon as we get down this mountain, we'll be there."

"Good," Chi-Chi said in relief. The sooner they got to Sita's the better. Then she'd be with Goku again...

"You know, I'm surprised that Sita hasn't finished Goku off already," Misai remarked as they started to climb down the mountain. "He must be really tough."

"He is," Chi-Chi agreed, nodding, "but I'm still worried."

"Don't see why you should be," Misai said flatly. 

Chi-Chi rolled her eyes. _Oh, great, not this again!_ she thought irritably. "Misai, I know you've been hurt in the past," she began calmly, "and I know you don't have a very high opinion of men, but Goku's not like your brother or Amar."

"No, of course not," Misai said scornfully. "He never beat you or betrayed you, so that automatically excuses the fact that he abandoned you!"

"He didn't abandon me, I told you that!" Chi-Chi protested.

"You don't call leaving to train a little kid abandoning you?" Misai retorted.

"You don't even know what you're talking about!" Chi-Chi said vehemently. "My husband's a good man!"

"Oh, really?" Misai asked dryly, raising her eyebrows. "If he's such a good person, then what does Sita want with him?"

"I… I don't know!" Chi-Chi snapped, privately wishing that she knew the answer. "But he didn't do anything wrong, I know it! He's a good man, and once you meet him…"

"I already told you that I'm only here to take care of Sita!" Misai snapped. She paused. "I don't think I'll succeed though," she added quietly.

"Why not?" Chi-Chi asked.

"_Why not_?" Misai repeated incredulously. "Sita's an all-powerful witch! I wasn't even a warrior! It isn't just her powers that make her strong either --- she's very manipulative. How else do you think she convinced most of the women on Vishnu that she was on their side? Her powers help her get what she wants from everybody."

"You mean she can hypnotize people?"

"She probably _could_, only it's not her style. She creates illusions --- making you see things that aren't really there. Her specialty is shapeshifting; not only can she change into different people, but she can also make you believe that it's really the person she's changed into. Her powers allow her to see everyone and anything in the universe so clearly that as long as she knows how a person looks, acts, or thinks, she can be anyone she wants…

"She does this is to make a person angry or upset, so that they're vulnerable. Then she can just mold them to her will. Remember when I said that she reminded me of how awful Amar treated me? She didn't just talk about it; she actually changed into Amar, and started talking about how good it had felt to take advantage of me and how worthless of a girl I was. It made me so angry that I took her offer, which was just what she wanted."

"Well, that wouldn't work on Goku," Chi-Chi said, trying to convince herself. "He can sense a person's ki…"

"That won't help," Misai explained. "Sita can imitate any other person's ki too. When she changes shape, she does a thorough job of it. So it wouldn't matter if you knew whether or not it was really she. Her performance is so convincing that you'd end up reacting the way she'd want you too. 

"Oh," Chi-Chi said, feeling intimated by this. 

"So if Sita was supposedly able to take done the strongest fighter in the universe, I think you and I are pretty screwed," Misai summarized darkly.

Chi-Chi looked at her disapprovingly. "You know, it's a good thing you aren't my daughter. If you were my daughter, and you used that language around me, I'd make you wash out your mouth with soap!"

Misai laughed emotionlessly. "My mother probably would have agreed."

"There's one thing I still don't get," Chi-Chi said, confused. "If you know that you don't stand a chance against Sita, then why are you still going to her lair?"

Misai shrugged. "Even if I get blasted into oblivion, it's better than rotting away in that prison. I'd rather be destroyed than spend eternity in this place. But I hope you know what you're getting yourself into."

"I do," Chi-Chi said quietly. Deep down, she was starting to feel worried. Before she had known all this, she hadn't been sure if she could defeat Sita. Now it seemed as though she didn't stand a chance.

Chi-Chi took a deep breath to calm her nerves. _I have to do this, _she told herself. _If I don't help Goku, who will?_

***

They reached the bottom of the mountain and quickly headed towards the direction of Sita's lair. Before Chi-Chi knew it, they were standing in front of it: a tall, stone tower that was strangely unguarded.

"Aren't there any guards to protect the tower?" Chi-Chi asked cautiously.

"Sita doesn't need any," Misai replied grimly. She glanced at Chi-Chi. "You ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready," Chi-Chi said bravely.

Together, they walked up to the door of the tower. Misai reached out for the knob and turned it. It opened.

Chi-Chi and Misai glanced at each other with surprise. "Something strange is going on here," Chi-Chi muttered. "Even if she doesn't have guards, a witch isn't likely to keep her door unlocked. It's almost as though… she were expecting us."

Misai didn't seem deterred by Chi-Chi's suspicions. "Fine," she said coldly. "If she wants us to come, then we'll come."

They stepped inside a dark hallway, illuminated dimly by torches. At the end of the hall stood two large, winding staircases that led up the tower. Chi-Chi squinted, seeing numerous dark figures lying on the steps.

She and Misai approached the two staircases. As they did, a disgusting stench hit Chi-Chi. "Oh Kami, what is that smell?" she muttered, holding her nose. She stopped dead in her tracks, seeing what the dark figures were, and let out a shriek.

Bodies of men were lying all over the steps. It was almost as though a war had taken place, judging from the weapons and armor the men were wearing. A few of them were decaying, lying in what looked to be their own dried blood. Many of them had obviously been killed years ago, and were nothing more than rotting skeletons.

"Oh Kami…" Chi-Chi croaked, feeling as though she were about to be sick.

"Sita's been very busy over the past few centuries, hasn't she?" Misai said gravely. She bent over one of the corpses and unfastened a sheathed sword that hung around his waist.

"What are you doing?" Chi-Chi hissed.

"Looking for weapons and armor," Misai said shortly. "If we face Sita unarmed, we'll be dead faster than you can say 'good-bye.'"

"Oh… good point." 

Misai pulled out the sword from its sheath. She grinned. "It's been a long time since I've held a sword." She swung the sword in the air a couple of times. Then she sheathed it and tied it around her waist. "Okay, Princess, which staircase should we use: the right one or the left one?"

Chi-Chi thought for a moment. "Um… let's try the right."

"Fine," Misai replied, walking down the steps. "Then I'll go left."

Chi-Chi nearly fell over in surprise. "What?"

Misai turned to face her. "I said that I'd get you to Sita's tower, and then you're on your own. I never said I'd help you look for your husband. Oh, and speaking of whom, I'd try looking among those rotting carcasses. He's probably one of them," she added nastily as she walked away.

Chi-Chi was furious. "Fine! Good riddance!" she shouted bitterly. She turned on her heel and stormed up the stairs, careful to step over the bodies.

_The nerve of her! _she fumed silently. _I feel sorry for her, I really do, but that does not give her the excuse to say those horrible things about Goku! She doesn't even know him!_

Well, there was nothing more she could do to help Misai; if she wanted to be acrid for the rest of her afterlife, that her choice. Right now, she needed to find Goku…

Chi-Chi proceeded up the stairs, where more corpses lay. _What if Misai was right? _she wondered fearfully. _What if Goku is lying here somewhere? _

She forced herself to look at the bodies. She couldn't see Goku anywhere. This was a good sign. Baba had seen Goku being tortured in her crystal ball less than four days ago. That meant if Goku had just been killed, he wouldn't have started ---

Chi-Chi cut off that morbid thought, appalled that she would ever think such a thing. "Goku?" she called out frantically. "Goku? Are you here?"

Her only response was her own echo, reverberating off the stone walls.

"Goku?" she tried again. "It's me, Chi-Chi! Say something!"

Silence. "Oh Goku, what if you're hurt and can't hear me at all?" she muttered worriedly.

She gazed upward. She could see nothing except more flights of stairs, and even more bodies sprawled on the ground. The only possible way she could think of was to go keep going… 

A corpse bearing a sword and a shield caught her eye. She cringed. It was the last thing she wanted to do, but Misai was right; she couldn't help Goku if she was unarmed. Slowly, she grabbed the shield and undid the sheath, trying not to touch any part of the body…

She heard the sound of creaking bones behind her. She looked around, thinking that Misai had returned. Yet the girl was nowhere in sight.

_I must be hearing things,_ she thought, shaking her head.

She went further up the stairs until she spotted a door at the end of the staircase. _Goku must be here! _she thought excitedly.

Just then, she felt something extremely sharp poke her back. "All right, Misai, quit playing games," she started to snap, turning her head. "I know it's ---"

A tall skeleton stood behind her, pointing his sword directly at him. The still corpses began rising from their places. They silently advanced towards Chi-Chi, their bones creaking as they walked.

Chi-Chi tried to scream, but she couldn't make a sound. The one nearest to bared its decaying teeth in a hideous smile, and raised its sword.

_NO! _a voice in her head screamed defiantly. _I didn't come all this way just die again!_

Suddenly aware of the sword in her hand, she swung it, knocking the skeleton's head clean off its bony neck. She kicked forward, sending it tumbling down the stairs, where it shattered to pieces.

Another zombie tried to stab her with a dagger, but she quickly put the shield in front of her, blocking the blow. She swung out her sword, hitting as many she could. She was able to take down at least two or three, yet still they kept coming at her. 

Chi-Chi tried not to panic. She was outnumbered; there were at least thirty of them. She couldn't possibly defend herself against all of them without help…

Just then, she got an idea. She threw the shield down and jumped onto it. She skillfully used it to slide down the stairs. It was a bumpy ride, but she held her arms out to keep her balance. She slid by the zombies so fast that her outstretched sword was beheading as many of them as possible.

Finally, she landed on the ground floor, where she saw at least a dozen more zombies surrounding Misai. Misai merely stood there, her face filled with determination. Her body was poised, ready to attack.

Chi-Chi quickly got off the shield and ran to stand next to Misai. "What's happening?" she cried.

"Sita," Misai replied poisonously. "She's using her dead victims to kill us."

"How can that be possible?" Chi-Chi shouted as more zombies emerged from the staircases. "They were already dead to begin with! I thought once you killed someone in Other World, their souls would vanish forever!"

"They do," Misai answered. "These men are all dead; Sita's just using her magic to move their bodies like her own personal puppets."

The zombies were drawing closer, advancing on them. Chi-Chi clutched her sword tightly. "We have to destroy the bodies," she said, thinking fast. "That way, Sita can't use them against use."

"Right," Misai agreed, nodding. "You take the ones on the left, I'll take the ones on the right."

They charged forward, swords drawn, and leaped at the zombies. Chi-Chi swung her sword out from all directions, cutting off whatever parts of the bodies the blade could touch. It was difficult to fight a whole group of zombies at once; while she was trying to dismember one, another crept up behind her, striking her with its sword. Luckily, she dodged out of the way so that it only cut her arm.

Misai, on the other hand, seemed to be handling herself well. She slashed her sword left and right, ducking neatly whenever a zombie tried to stab her. Chi-Chi was impressed; the girl really _was_ good with a sword. Piles of bones and other body parts were starting to form all around her.

"_Is this all you've got, Sita?_" she bellowed out arrogantly as she mutilated her last zombie. "_Come on, I know you can do better than this!_"

She looked towards Chi-Chi, grinning in triumph. Her expression quickly changed to into one of horror. "HEY, LOOK OUT!" she screamed, rushing to Chi-Chi.

"What ---?" Chi-Chi turned around just in time to see a zombie, about to cut her head off. Misai quickly jumped in front of Chi-Chi and cut it in half.

Chi-Chi barely had time to thank her because the last ten zombies attacked them. The two stood by one another, tearing apart the zombies… until there was nothing except dismembered body parts scattered all over the floor.

Elated by their victory, Chi-Chi let out a whoop and jumped up and down. "We did it!" she exclaimed. "I don't believe it --- they outnumbered us and we defeated them!"

Misai squealed and surprised Chi-Chi by giving her a high-five. "You were incredible back there, Princess!" she said breathlessly. "You were sliding down the stairs, killing zombies like crazy! You have _got_ to teach me how to do that!"

"It just popped up in my mind," Chi-Chi admitted modestly. "Wow… I wonder what Gohan and Goten would have thought if they saw me like that…"

It took a few moments for her to calm down. Then she remembered: "I saw a door up the staircase I took. I think Goku's there." She turned to go.

"Wait, I'll come with you!" Misai said quickly, hurrying to catch up with her.

Chi-Chi looked at her in disbelief. "You are? I thought you didn't want to help Goku…"

"I didn't," Misai said awkwardly. "Still… after the way we handled those ogres… and the zombies… well, you and I make a pretty good team. I mean, we just kicked some serious zombie ass… after all, somebody has to watch your back. Besides, Sita might be up there as well."

Chi-Chi smiled. Maybe Misai was starting to change her mind after all!

"Okay," she nodded. "Let's go."

The two ran up the stairs and reached the door. Misai tried to turn the knob. "Damn!" she snarled. "First door in this place that's actually locked!"

"We'll force it open," Chi-Chi instructed her. "On the count of three. One… two… three!"

They rammed against the door. Since neither of them was very big, they had to ram against it two other times before it finally burst open. It led into a large, dark chamber with gray, stone walls and filthy, dank floors. The appearance and coldness of the room was reminiscent of a dungeon. 

"Reminds me of my prison cell," Misai said sardonically. She plucked a torch off the wall and shone it around the room. "I don't see anyone in here. Maybe we should we check the other staircase…"

"What --- What's that over there?" Chi-Chi faltered, pointing a still figure lying at the far end of the chamber.

"I hope it's not another zombie," Misai muttered, shining the torch to where Chi-Chi was pointing. She squinted. "I can't see very far… let's go for a closer look."

As they approached the figure, Chi-Chi could make out something gold hovering over the figure. It almost looked like --- like a halo…

"_Oh Kami!_" she gasped. Ignoring Misai's yell to wait, she broke out into a run. The pounding of her feet on the ground almost sounded like her own heart racing. She dropped to her knees next to the figure and turned him over.

It was Goku.

But what in Kami's name had happened to him? Half of his shirt was torn off, revealing severe cuts and burns all over his arms and his chest. And that wasn't the worst of it. His right arm was twisted at an odd angle, along with the fingers on his hand, which were bleeding fervently. His head was caked with dried blood that came from a deep gash on his forehead.

"Oh Goku, what did that monster do to you?" Chi-Chi sobbed, horrified to see him in this condition.

Misai had finally reached them. She pointed the torch towards Goku so that she could see him. "Is this him?" she asked quietly.

Chi-Chi nodded, tears streaming down her face. She turned her attention back to Goku. "Don't worry," she whispered, stroking his cheek. "I'm here now, I found you! I've missed you so much…"

"Oh… my… goodness," Misai gasped, taking a closer look at Goku. "His arm… his hand… his fingers… they're all broken! You weren't kidding when you said he was being tortured! Sita sure took her time with _him_!"

Chi-Chi was shaking in rage. "When I get my hands on the sick, psychotic…" 

She froze, glancing at the top of Goku's head. Something strange was happening. One minute, Goku's halo was transparent, slowly vanishing from sight. The next minute, it reappeared as though nothing had happened.

"What's going on?" Chi-Chi asked hoarsely.

"I don't know," Misai replied, looking at it curiously. "I've never anything like this before..."

Chi-Chi turned pale. _He's fading, _she realized, stricken. _He's going to die again. And remember what King Kai said: once someone dies in Other World, there is no coming back. He'll be gone forever…_

"Goku, wake up!" she cried desperately, shaking him by the shoulders. "Please… please wake up…" But Goku continued to lie there unconscious.

"Don't bother," a voice said coldly. "He won't wake up… I've made sure of that."

Misai and Chi-Chi whirled around. A woman had suddenly appeared a few feet away from them. In her hands, she carried a tall staff with a glowing crystal attached to the top. She was dressed in diaphanous, turquoise robes and her long, black hair was pulled back into a plait. Her face was pale and emotionless, yet strangely beautiful.

"_Sita,_" Misai breathed.

Sita glanced at Goku. "I thought that I finished him…" She shrugged. "No matter. From the looks of it, he'll dead in a few minutes anyway."

The sorceress approached them casually. "Well, well," she said, her eyes gleaming wickedly. "If it isn't Misai. How are you doing?"

"How am I doing?" Misai spat, her face twisted in anger. "You threw me in Hell, you bitch! How do you _think_ I'm doing? 

Sita shrugged carelessly. "You asked me to."

"I didn't ask you to throw me in _Hell_!" Misai yelled bitterly. "I can't believe that the women of Vishnu thought of you as our savior; we never should have trusted you! I wish we'd banished you to Hell before the men did!"

Sita rolled her eyes. "Obviously, Hell hasn't broken your fiery temper." 

She looked at Chi-Chi. "I've been watching you ever since you came to Hell," she said quietly. "I must say, I didn't think you'd make it this far. In fact, I didn't even think you'd come here at all --- at least not for _him_," she added, indicating Goku.

"You!" Chi-Chi said angrily, rising to her feet. "You --- you did this! You killed him and you brought him here to suffer?"

"It wasn't _my_ doing," Sita replied smoothly. "At least, not entirely. I merely did what was asked of me."

"_What was asked of you?_" Chi-Chi repeated, unable to believe her ears. "WHAT WAS _ASKED_ OF YOU? NOBODY ASKED YOU TO KILL HIM! NOBODY ASKED YOU TO TAKE HIM AWAY FROM HIS FAMILY!"

Sita raised her eyebrows. "_Took_ him away from his family? It was my understanding that he left you first. And yes, I was asked to do this."

"_Who?_" Chi-Chi demanded furiously. "Who asked you do this?"

Sita smiled evilly. "Why, you did."

To be continued…

A/N: I know, I know, a lot of you saw this coming. And for those who weren't expecting it --- Surprise! *ducks knives, swords, and flames thrown at me* Don't worry, there will be a logical explanation for all of this in the next chapter. Just trust me, I know what I'm doing. Fair warning: I guarantee those who have been screaming for Sita's death will have more of a reason to hate her in the next chapter, so be prepared... 

I am looking forward to the weekend because I'm going to my first prom with a group of friends. Yippee! *squeals* I hope the rest of you have a good weekend as well. See you next week!

I won't tell: Yes, Sita got swallowed in her own bitterness. How I came up with the DBZ comparisons was because of my Literature teacher. He was describing Hanuman and the monkeys, when all of a sudden he asked, "How many of you have seen Dragon Ball or Dragonball Z?" I freaked, yelling, "Ooh! Ooh! Me! Me!" He explained the similarities of the monkeys to the Saiyans. After reading the story, I came up with even more comparisons. I wonder if Akira Toryama ever read it. I know that DB was originally inspired from a Chinese folktale.

Carrie2sky: Women who kick butt rock! *High-fives Carrie* I think you'll want Sita's butt to be kicked even more now.

Woman of Dunedain: Yeah, poor Misai. Thanks for complementing my writing style; it means a lot to me, since I want to be a writer someday.

Keebler-Elmo: You don't like Misai? Well, you're one of the minorities…

Caryl Mc: Misai is wrong about Goku, but you can't blame her for being judgmental. She grew up in a place where most of the men were abusive jerks, and she has a history of being hurt by men. I agree, women are not weak, but women aren't the main heroes on DBZ because it's a testosterone type of show… ironically, I'm a girl, and I like it! Launch and Chi-Chi do kick butt in Dragonball, which is good. Goku is now in the story, and there will be more of him in the next chapter. I like romance too; I think I'm getting a little sentimental with my age… either that, or I just like G/CC fics. LOL!

Candy the Duck: Yes, Misai is good.

Misao: Misai is very strong-willed, just like Chi-Chi. It was brave of her to go through what she did without taking the coward's way out, but going to Sita wasn't the brightest choice either.

Mujitsu: No, Goku's not brainwashed. Hmm… maybe I'll use that idea for another fic *ducks rock Chi-Chi throws at me* But compared to getting the crap beaten out of him, brainwashing might have been a little more merciful. Chi-Chi found him though… that's a good thing, right?

Arain Rowan: Okay, you were right from the beginning, only I couldn't tell you because it would be giving it away. I will tell you that you're also on the right track with Chi-Chi's outburst… you'll just have to wait for the next chapter to find out how it happened. If you exclude the fact that he left several times (to save the world, I might add), Goku's not a bad husband. He's sweet and has a sense of humor. That's got to count for something, right? That's just my opinion.

Jessica C: Unless you count Chi-Chi finding Goku hurt as romantic, you're going to have to wait for the romance. You got some action though :)

Kakkabrat: I updated!

Some guy: Thank you!

Lady Athena X: Thank God, Misai isn't a Mary Sue! *hugs Lady Athena* I worked hard to make her as real of a person as possible. Misai does have an attitude, but she's starting to like Chi-Chi. She just can't understand why Chi-Chi would risk everything to save some man who kept leaving her. I totally agree with you on the subject of wife-abusers and rapists. I can't believe men would actually do that. Then again, most of the guys at my school are awful, although not to that extent…

You know what? Misai _is_ kind of like Videl! Both are tough, stubborn, defensive, but they have an amiable side as well. In fact, I didn't really like Videl because of the way she acted to Gohan, and the fact that she was Hercule's daughter (I really don't like him). But she was nicer later in the saga, and she grew to be one of my favorite characters. I thought that the catfight between her and Chi-Chi was pretty funny, LOL! Misai and Chi-Chi are partners, despite Misai almost leaving her to go fight Sita herself. I'll bet their interaction reminded you of Goku and Vegeta working together inside Buu…

Lady Gwenlian: Thank you!

Sadako: It would suck to live on Vishnu. I kind of got inspired for the idea of the planet from reading about those Middle-Eastern countries where women have no rights and are married off at young ages. I really am a feminist, aren't I? Yes, Misai and Chi-Chi are still partners, despite the conflicting emotions (i.e. Misai not liking Goku).

Lady Thundera: *glances behind me where Chi-Chi is fuming* LOL, I guess I am on her bad side now… but you were on her bad side when you wrote "The Past Returns." I have appealed to Chi-Chi to wait and see what happens, which has kept her off my back for the moment… which probably won't last long, considering what happened to Goku. Gohan was mad at Goku, but you'll hear more about that in a later chapter. As for your theory about the flashback, you'll have to wait and see. I myself have a catapult that I long to use on my little brother and those stupid boys at school…


	8. Part Eight

Part Eight

Chi-Chi felt as though she had been stuck by lightning. What was Sita saying? There was no way that she'd ever ask her to kill Goku. It was unthinkable; she would never have done anything to hurt him! 

"No," she croaked, shaking her head. "That can't be true…"

"I assure you that it is," Sita said coldly.

"You're a liar!" she yelled, enraged. "I never asked you to do this! How could I?"

"True," Sita admitted, her eyes gleaming oddly. "You never asked _me_… yet it's because of you that he's here…"

"Don't listen to her, she's a liar!" Misai snarled.

Sita smiled sinisterly at her. "At times, yes. But you know as well as I do that my power to kill only comes from the consent of a woman --- a wife to be precise."

Misai stared dubiously at Chi-Chi. "She's right," she muttered, keeping her voice low so that Sita couldn't hear her. "On Vishnu, she never killed a man unless she was asked to. The only exception was Rama, but that was her _own_ hatred." She narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure you didn't ask her? Because if we've been running around Hell for some guy you already turned into Sita…"

"I didn't!" Chi-Chi cried out in denial. "I never would have done anything to hurt Goku! _Never!_"

Sita laughed wickedly. "You're not happy? I thought this was what you _wanted_…"

"WHY WOULD I WANT THIS?" Chi-Chi screamed, pointing to where Goku lay. "Why did you do this to him… he didn't do anything!"

"But he _did_," Sita hissed, her eyes glowing white. "He had this coming to him for years… I just had to wait for the right moment."

"What are you talking about?" Misai demanded.

Sita let out an impatient little sigh. "You've already forgotten, haven't you?" She rolled her eyes. "Mortals… they only choose to remember what they want. Very well… I will remind you."

Sita closed her eyes. The crystal on her staff started to glow even brighter. Its light seemed to surround the witch, making her look like a night-light. Chi-Chi and Misai looked around to see that the entire chamber was shimmering oddly. The light blazed out from Sita and shot straight towards Chi-Chi and Misai. The two quickly shielded their eyes.

When Chi-Chi opened her eyes, she and Misai were no longer in Sita's chamber. Instead, they were some sort of hallway…

Chi-Chi's eyes widened with recognition. "This --- This is my home!" she gasped.

"Your home?" Misai repeated in disbelief. She looked around. "Wow, you had a nice place. My home was just a little hovel."

"But how did we get here!" Chi-Chi said, confused. She looked above her head and Misai's. They still had halos, which meant they were dead…

_"It's a memory," _Sita's disembodied voice echoed in her mind.

Chi-Chi looked around wildly for her. _"Don't bother," _Sita cackled. _"I make myself visible when **I **want to. You're still in my chamber; I'm only showing you the memories that exist inside another mind."_

"Whose?" Misai asked harshly. "Yours? Sorry, Sita, but I don't think we'd be able to comprehend the mind of a psycho!"

_"Not mine, you foolish girl, the victim's."_

"The victim's?" Chi-Chi muttered bewilderedly. Then it dawned on her. "Oh Kami, we're inside ---!"

Just then, Goku appeared right between Chi-Chi and Misai. "Goku!" Chi-Chi exclaimed, reaching out to him. "What are you doing here?"

To her shock, her hand simply passed through him, as though he were a ghost.

"He can't hear you," Misai told her, shaking her head. "This is a memory. The people don't even know that we're here, because everything we see has already happened."

And indeed, Goku didn't notice that either of them was in the room. He merely looked around the room. "Sure is good to be back," he said softly. Smiling to himself, he walked down the hall.

_This is so weird, _Chi-Chi thought in awe as she and Misai followed him. _I'm inside Goku's head…only what does Sita want to show me?_

She suddenly became aware of voices coming from nearby --- rather familiar ones, too. Curiously, Goku turned around and poked his head into the room where the noise was coming from… 

Chi-Chi and Misai entered the room. Chi-Chi's jaw dropped. "Oh my goodness!" she gasped.

She was seeing herself, as a middle-aged woman, and Goten as a teenager, standing over a table full of cooking food. It was the strangest experience of her life, watching herself from another point of view. Her other self looked tense and angry. Goten was trying to comfort her.

"I miss him too," Goten was saying gently. "Everybody does. Even Gohan does…"

"Miss him?" the older Chi-Chi repeated angrily. "Why should I miss him? Why bother missing someone who leaves you all the time, no matter what the circumstances are?"

"Oh no," Chi-Chi croaked, remembering this incident. She glanced back at Goku, whose face was filled with confusion. "Oh Kami, please don't tell me that he heard me say…"

"_I hate him!_" the older Chi-Chi cried, her eyes blazing with anger and pain. "I hate that he always leaves whenever he wants! It would be easier for everybody if he never came back!"

Misai surveyed the scene. "So much for standing by your man," she said derisively. "Not that that I blame _you_, of course."

"You shut up!" Chi-Chi said savagely.

"Just because you said something you didn't want to admit doesn't mean you can take it out on me," Misai retorted. She turned to look back at Goku. Her smirk was immediately wiped off her face, replaced by an expression Chi-Chi couldn't quite identify. "Whoa…"

Goku was standing as still as a statue. The happy look that was usually on his face had vanished. Shock etched onto his features, as though someone had slapped him. His breathing quickened, and he staggered back, dazed, apparently trying to take all of this in.

Chi-Chi clapped her hands to her mouth, stricken. "Oh Kami, what have I done?" 

Gotensuddenly whirled around. "I thought I heard something," Goten muttered, approaching the door leading out to the hall.

But before Goten could see him, Goku quickly put two fingers against his head and Instant Transmission out of the room. Goten peered out into the hallway and saw nothing. Puzzled, he headed back into the kitchen.

_Goten sensed Goku there that day, _Chi-Chi realized, tears welling in her eyes. _As soon as he heard what I said, he left. If only he'd stayed another minute…he would have known I'd taken it back._

"Oh Kami…" she moaned, covering her face in her hands. She turned to Misai. "H-He heard me say that I h-hated him… but I didn't mean it! He… he was never supposed to have heard that!"

"Well, he did," Misai said flatly. She gazed at Goku. "Don't get me wrong --- I still think he deserved it. It's just… the look on his face… it almost made me feel sorry for him."

Suddenly, the blinding light enveloped them once again. This time, they found themselves inside a smaller house. Chi-Chi instantly recognized it as Grandpa Gohan's house, where Goku had lived in his early childhood. Unlike the Son household, it wasn't well kept; dust and cobwebs covered everything in sight. No one had lived there for years.

Goku reappeared, the stunned look still on his face. Gradually, it faded into utter sorrow. He slowly sank down to the floor, drawing his knees up to his chin.

"He --- He must have come here after he overheard us," Chi-Chi said faintly, walking towards where he sat. "He must have stayed here for the next few weeks…"

She bit her lip, remembering when he returned to visit, four weeks later. He had rather quiet. Oh, he acted the same, yet there were periods, when he'd just stare at her for no particular reason. When she'd asked him what was wrong, he insisted there was nothing wrong.

_Was that what was bothering him? _she wondered, tears coursing down her cheeks. _All this time, he thought that I hated him? No… no, it couldn't be! He knew that I loved him. I told him after he came back to visit --- didn't I?_

Come to think of it, she couldn't remember the last time she had told him. She knew that she told him before the World Martial Arts Tournament, but afterwards?

No. She hadn't.

It wasn't because she didn't love him; her feelings had never changed towards him. Perhaps she forgot to say it, as people often do... 

Or maybe she didn't _want_ to say it to him because like all other displays of affection, it would have made it harder for her to let him go.

_But he knew that I loved him anyway! _she tried to convince herself frantically. _I didn't yell at him after he left with Uub --- not face-to-face, anyway…_

**How** could he have known? a voice in her head asked harshly. _You didn't exactly show it, did you? You were friendly, but there's a difference between friendly and loving. You were never intimate whenever he visited…you didn't kiss him…you didn't even hug him? You were too busy keeping your distance from him to even think that there was something wrong with him. After hearing your outburst and the way you acted, what was he **supposed** to think?_

"Why didn't he tell me?" Chi-Chi cried, tears coursing down her cheeks. "I could have set him straight! He should have told me!"

"You mean like how _you_ told him how you felt?" Misai replied sharply.

Chi-Chi's insides burned with guilt. She was right; she hadn't been honest with him either. Still, he should have told her! It wasn't like him to keep things bottled up inside like that…

Then again, maybe it had hurt him too much for him to talk about.

Chi-Chi gazed at Goku. His face was now hidden in his arms. A lump came to her throat. She couldn't stand to see him like this… and knowing that her own careless words had hurt him like this was too much to endure.

"Oh Goku, I'm so sorry," she whispered tearfully, although she knew perfectly well that he couldn't hear her. She reached out to touch his spiky black head, only to touch air.

From far away, Sita laughed mockingly. _"Don't delude yourself, Chi-Chi. You wanted this --- to have him feel the pain that you felt."_

"That's not true!" Chi-Chi shouted, wiping her eyes furiously. "I never hated him…"

_"Yes, you did,"_ Sita replied._ "You hated him for leaving you alone every time he left. You simply hid it from yourself, but I could feel it. It was small, yet it grew with each of his departures, which worked to my advantage…_

"I, too, have heard of the Saiyan; he's one of the strongest fighters in the universe. Killing him would be the greatest of all my conquests. Yet I didn't just want to kill him…he had something else that I wanted: power. If I could have it, I would become the most powerful sorceress in the universe…powerful enough to break out of Hell.

"So I waited. Your words had given me enough consent to kill him. However, I had to wait until your bitterness grew strong enough for me to take him…"

The surroundings changed. Chi-Chi and Misai were now standing in a forest. The image of Goku passed by them, looking strangely pale and weary.

_"I knew that he would keep his body upon crossing over to Other World," _Sita went on, acting as the narrator, _"so tearing his body apart would be a waste of time. I just used a spell to drain the energy from him. It was all too easy; the fool didn't even know what was happening to him until it was too late…"_

At that moment, Goku collapsed the ground, exhausted. Seconds later, his body vanished.

"You're a monster!" Chi-Chi screamed in fury. 

_"Monster, am I?" _Sita sneered. _"I think I was being quite fair; I gave him a painless death instead of making him suffer. I saved that for when he came to me…"_

The forest began to fade back into Sita's dark chamber. Sita stood off to the side, her eyes closed.

"Are we back?" Chi-Chi wondered. She glanced back at the spot where Goku's had lay. He was gone.

"No, we're still in a memory," Misai informed her. She walked up to Sita and stuck her hand right through her body.

"She looks like she's concentrating on something," Chi-Chi said, looking closely at Sita. "But on what?"

The door opened. Goku entered the room. At first, Chi-Chi thought he was sleeping walking; he walked so slowly, and his eyes were closed. 

Then it hit her: Sita had ensorcelled him somehow! She probably made him jump off Snake Way after he left the check-in station in Other World. How else would Goku have gone to Hell? Sita couldn't escape from Hell to capture him; _he_ had to come to _her_.

Sita's eyes snapped open, and at the same time, Goku's head jerked up. His eyes, as he took in they took in his surroundings, were bleary and confused, as though he was waking from a very deep sleep. He looked at Sita curiously. "Who are you?"

"Sita," Sita replied shortly. "I'm a sorceress."

Goku rubbed the back of his head. "I'm sorry… but I don't really know where I am, or how I got here. The last thing I remember was that I was on my way to the Grand Kai's planet…"

"You're in Hell," Sita informed him.

"Hell?" Goku yelled, nearly falling over in shock. "I'm in Hell? But --- but --- but --- how?"

"Maybe you fell off Snake Way," Sita suggested innocently.

"Well, yeah, that's possible," Goku said thoughtfully, calming down. "That did happen the first time I died. Only how come I don't remember? And why am I in this place instead of Hell itself?"

Sita didn't respond. Goku frowned suspiciously. Watching him, Chi-Chi knew exactly what he was thinking. He was naïve and too trusting of other people, but he wasn't stupid. He could tell that there was something wrong about this woman. 

"Well, I escaped from Hell once," he said slowly, inching towards the door. "I can do it again…"

Sita raised her hand ever so slightly. The door automatically swung shut. "What makes you think that you're supposed to escape?" she hissed, advancing on Goku. "King Yemma might have changed your fate at the last second… perhaps you're supposed to be in Hell."

Goku didn't buy this for a minute. The truth dawned on him. "You… you had something to do with this, didn't you? Why else would I be here?" He readied himself to attack her.

"Oh, are you going to fight me?" Sita inquired, sounding delighted. "In that case, you'd better do it with your full power."

"Fine," Goku retorted boldly. He started to power up, causing his hair to stand on end. An aura of energy surrounded

Chi-Chi grinned at Misai. "I told you that you'd get to see him fight," she whispered. "Now, watch this…"

To her bewilderment, instead powering up to a Super Saiyan, the aura faded. Goku looked down on himself, appalled. "What ---?"

Sita smirked at him. " I suppose I should have told you this before… as long as you are here, you can't reach your full power unless I allow you to. In other words, I control you. You may be powerful, Son Goku, but you can't fight my magic."

"That's cheating!" Goku shouted indignantly.

"I never said I was going to play fair," Sita said icily. "You'll just have to fight me at your normal state. I can't risk being defeated by you so early in my plan..."

"What are you talking about?" Goku asked, glaring at her.

Sita held up her staff and pointed it directly towards him. The crystal flashed. All of a sudden, Goku collapsed, twisting and writhing on the ground.

"Excellent," she breathed. "It's started."

"What … did you… do?" Goku asked, gritting his teeth in pain.

"Can't you feel it?" Sita hissed menacingly. "I'm taking your spirit energy. It's similar to the spell I used to kill you, except it's longer and much more painful. But that doesn't mean I have can have fun with you while I'm waiting…"

She pointed her staff at Goku. Jets of blue and white fire emerged from her staff and shot out towards Goku. The flames engulfed him, burning his body as he screamed out in pain.

"No! Goku!" Chi-Chi cried. She rushed forward to aid him, but Misai grabbed her arm, holding her back. "Let me go!" she shouted, struggling to free herself. "I have to help him!"

"By what, running through Sita a couple of times until she stops?" Misai snapped. "This already happened, remember? You can't do anything to help him…"

"So I have to just watch him suffer like this?" Chi-Chi shrieked. "No! I'm not going to just sit here and do nothing!"

"You don't really have much of a choice," Misai said grimly.

Chi-Chi glared at her. Watching this wasn't hard for her, with her attitude towards Goku. But deep down, she knew that Misai had a point: there _was_ nothing she could do.

Sita had stopped blasting Goku with her staff. Goku staggered to his feet. There were several burns on his arms and his clothes were singed. He started to gather a ki blast in his hand.

"Now you wouldn't be trying to attack me, would you?" Sita asked, her eyebrows raised. "Using up your energy will only quicken the process."

"I don't care!" Goku said defiantly. "I'm not one to just sit back and let you win!" He fired the ki blast at Sita.

"Suit yourself," Sita replied calmly. Just before the ki blast hit her, she raised her hand. It bounced off her as though there were an invisible shield protecting her. It suddenly magnified ten times larger. Sita waved her hand, sending it back towards Goku. Goku tried to Instant Transmission out of the way, but the blast followed him to where he reappeared. It struck him, sending him crashing into the stone wall.

Goku emerged from the hole in the wall, breathing heavily. His forehead was cut from the crash, dripping blood into his eyes.

"That was a warning," Sita told him coldly. "It doesn't matter how fast you are, I cause any of your attacks to backfire. It would have been a lot worse if you'd used that Kamehameha Attack of yours on me…"

Goku blinked. "How --- How do you know about that?"

"I know everything about you, Son Goku," Sita said cryptically.

Sita gazed down at the crystal encrusted on her staff. "Damn, not even a quarter of your energy has been taken. You're tougher than I thought." She shrugged. "I expected as much. You're a fighter; naturally, you'll want to resist. I respect that." She pointed her staff at Goku. "But it will be a lot easier if you lie still for this process."

Goku's arms and legs immediately snapped together. He swayed and fell forward onto the floor.

Sita dropped her staff and started to pace around the spot where he lay, frozen. "Besides, I'm _really_ looking forward to torturing you…"

Goku wasn't deterred. "Fine," he replied coldly. "I can stand pain."

Sita smiled. "Physical pain, maybe, but what about _emotional_ pain?"

"As I was saying, I know everything about you," she continued. "My powers have enabled to me to see your entire past… even the things you don't remember, like your brief time on Planet Vegeta. And I've heard much about you… everybody thinks your this great, noble hero…" She laughed. "If only they knew the truth…"

"What are you talking about?"

"You're a murderer."

Goku glared at her. "I don't know who you think you are, but I'm not a murderer."

"You have killed," Sita pointed out.

"Only when the universe was in danger!" Goku said fiercely. "I did it to protect my family, friends, and everyone else in the universe!

"What about your grandfather?" Sita sneered. "You turned into a big ape and crushed him to death. How was that protecting the universe?"  


"It was an accident!" Goku yelled.

Sita rolled her eyes. "Please. You're a Saiyan. Maybe you convince yourself and others that you only fight to save others, but we both know the truth: you fight because you like it. Killing is in your blood."

Goku laughed harshly. "Is this your idea of wearing me down? If it is, it's not working. I've accepted where I come from years ago! I may be a Saiyan, but I'm not like them!"

"Right," Sita said sarcastically. "You've spent your whole life protecting others. You've even left your own family to ensure the safety of the universe. And I suppose you wouldn't have left them if the universe wasn't in danger?"

"No!" Goku said vehemently.

"Funny, I seem know of a certain time when the universe wasn't in danger, yet you left your family anyway only to train a boy."

Goku looked up at her.

"Yes," Sita whispered. "I know all about that. You are like a Saiyan after all… you care nothing for your so-called family and friends. You were willing to desert them just to fight someone who could be stronger than you."

Goku forced a smile. "You can say whatever you want, but that stuff isn't going to work on me."

"Give me time, I'm just getting started," Sita said arrogantly. "Like I was saying, you left, using the excuse the excuse that you were training another fighter to make sure the universe would be safe after you died… but your family knows the truth. They could see through your little white lie; they know that the only reason you wanted to train the boy was because after you fought the Majin Buu creature, you were bored and wanted another fight. So you requested that Buu would be reincarnated as a 'good person' so you could train him enough to become as powerful as you are. Then you could fight him and see who was the strongest."

She knelt down and leaned close over Goku. Chi-Chi and Misai had to edge closer so that they could hear her next words, which were barely more than a whisper:

"That's why your family hates you."

Goku's body tensed. "You think I'm stupid enough to fall for that?"

"It's the truth," Sita said cruelly. "You know it. I know it. I saw how they acted towards you after you came back to visit…

"Gohan, your oldest… did you really think that it was a coincidence that he was always 'busy' whenever you visited? He kept himself busy because he didn't want to see you. He hated you for walking out on his family. He had the skills to become a great warrior once, but ended up becoming a scholar. Now why do you think he did that? He didn't want to be like you. Always choosing battles over the people he loved…"

"That isn't ---!" Chi-Chi started to yell, but then stopped. There was some truth in Sita's words. Gohan _was_ mad at Goku for leaving with Uub. He did tend to avoid him whenever he visited…

Misai saw Chi-Chi's troubled look. "She lies with the truth," she whispered. "She takes the truth and twists it into something else. She does that to wear people down."

And it was working. "I had no choice!" Goku yelled, almost desperately. "Everyone would have died if I hadn't."

"My, my," Sita said with mock concern, "I hit a sore spot, didn't I? 

"Let's continue with your youngest son. He spent the first seven years of his life not even knowing who you are. Then you returned to him, and he just idolized you, didn't he? You spent ten years with him, seeing a bit of yourself in him, didn't you? He was your pride and joy… then he grew up; he lost interest in training just like his brother. You left again not too long after that. He realized that everything he heard about you was a lie --- you were no hero, all you were was just a selfish, stupid little man that only cared for fighting…"

Chi-Chi was furious. That wasn't true at all! Out of the whole family, Goten was the first to fully realize that Goku left to train Uub because he thought he was helping everybody. And Goten didn't lose complete interest in his training --- he started it again after his father died!

_Don't listen to her, Goku, _she silently pleaded to the image of her husband, lying helpless on the ground, forced to listen to every word the witch was saying. _It's all a lie! Fight her, I know you can do it!_

Sita's eyes gleamed with sadistic pleasure. "Then, of course, there's your wife."

Chi-Chi froze, afraid of what would happen next.

"Ah, yes, your wife. Chi-Chi, was it? It effected her terribly whenever you left, didn't it? I'm surprised you thought she would still support you after you left her for a child! And what a pathetic woman she was… she didn't stay with you because she loved you, she stayed with you merely because she too weak to handle life alone…"

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT HER LIKE THAT!" Goku screamed, losing his temper.

Sita, seeing vulnerability, smirked. "Playing the defensive lover. Touching. Although you didn't see her defending you after you left with Uub. You even heard her say it."

Goku managed to shake his head. "That's none of your business!" he said, his voice breaking slightly. 

"She hated you, yet was too afraid to admit it," Sita pressed. "Her so-called love for you was just a stupid little girl's infatuation. She thought you were the greatest thing in the world… until she saw the real you, the one who was in love with one thing: battle. The only reason she didn't marry again during your seven-year absence was merely for the sake of your children. She deluded herself into thinking that you would actually stay with your family and settle down."

Chi-Chi could only stand there. Her fists were clenched, her nails cutting painfully into her skin. _I'm going to kill her!_ she thought venomously.

"But she was wrong, wasn't she, Goku? You left again, and she finally snapped. She finally admitted to herself that she hated you. You heard her for yourself the day you came back…"

As she said this, she started to glow. Chi-Chi and Misai watched in shock as Sita transformed into a perfect replica of a middle-aged Chi-Chi. She glared down at Goku.

"I hate you!" Sita-as-Chi-Chi shouted in a harsh voice. "It would have been easier for everybody if you just never came back!" 

Her words --- almost exactly like what Chi-Chi had blurted out before --- sounded even worse coming from Sita's mouth.

"_NO!_" Chi-Chi screamed, trying to run to Goku only to be held back by Misai. "It's not me, Goku! I didn't mean it! _I didn't!_ Don't believe it!"

"You might as well be talking to a wall," Misai reminded her grimly. Had Chi-Chi been less preoccupied with what was happening to Goku, she would have noticed how that Misai looked rather pale.

Meanwhile, Sita kept tormenting Goku in her Chi-Chi guise. "What a horrible husband you were… you loved fighting and eating more than you loved me… You pretended to enjoy being married to me for the first five years, but once the battles started, I saw the real you! The one who cared nothing for anything except fighting!"

Goku just lay there, his eyes shut tight. Sita-as-Chi-Chi raised her foot and kicked Goku hard in the face, causing his nose to start bleeding.

She bent down over Goku. She pulled his right hand towards her. "You deserve this," she said bitterly. "You deserve everything you get. We all thought you were some sort of angel sent to Earth to protect us. Brave, simple, noble Goku, who would _never _do anything to hurt anyone… Ha! Lies. All lies."

Goku out a yelp of pain as she broke one of his fingers with her bare hands. She seized each of his fingers and broke them, one by one, as she continued with her tirade.

"I meant what I said that day, Goku. I hate you. I even _knew_ that you were listening. I hoped you would. Maybe you'd be smart enough to take my advice and never bother us again. It would have made you happier, not having to hear me yell at you."

"I… never… thought…" Goku tried to say, but he broke off with a yell when Sita-as-Chi-Chi twisted his hand all the way around with a sickening crack.

"It would have made everyone happy if you left for good," Sita-as-Chi-Chi said. "It sure would have made _me_ happier. I wouldn't have had to listen to the constant asking excuses for your absences, not too mention your constant whining for food."

"N-No…" Goku groaned. Another crack sounded throughout the chamber as Sita twisted his arm, nearly pulling it out of its socket.

"_Chi-Chi, I'm hungry…_" Sita-as-Chi-Chi mimicked in a high-pitched voice. "_Chi-Chi, don't we have anything to eat around here…Chi-Chi this, Chi-Chi that…_Kami, was that all I was to you? The cooker and cleaner of the house?"

"You --- aren't --- her!" Goku rasped.

"Really?" Sita-as-Chi-Chi inquired dryly. A sharp dagger appeared out of thin air in her hand. She grabbed Goku by his shirt, pulled him up, and cut open his shirt with her dagger. "Don't I look exactly like her? Doesn't my voice sound like hers? My ki is even the same as hers…" She paused, pressing herself against Goku. "I bet I even smell like her…"

Goku spat right into her face. "I know the difference! I saw you change! You aren't fooling me!"

Sita-as-Chi-Chi glared at him, saliva running down her cheek. She threw Goku hard onto the ground, wiping it off. Changing back into her normal form, she used her dagger to slash his shoulder.

"I may not be her," Sita replied in a dangerously low voice, "but rest assured, I know what she thinks. Everything I told you was true. Do you deny that she said that she hated you?"

Goku was silent.

"Well?" Sita asked impatiently. She cut his other shoulder. Blood started to trickle out of his wounds. "Did she or did she not say that she hated you?"

Chi-Chi waited, holding her breath. _Don't say it, Goku,_ she prayed silently. _Please don't believe what I said…_

Goku lowered his head and shut his eyes. "She did," he said sadly.

"And do you think that she meant it?" Sita interrogated him.

Goku bit his lip, unable to respond.

Chi-Chi felt her heart twist in pain.

"It doesn't matter," Goku said in as strong a voice he could muster. "I'm not going to let you do this!"

"You keep saying that, yet you are the one who is lying helpless on the ground," Sita retorted, making another long cut across his chest. "And I am the one who seems to be getting the better of you…

"Nevertheless, you do have a strong spirit. You're not an easy to break, but I'll break you…"

She stood up and picked up her staff. She pointed it at Goku. "And when I do, I will leave you with nothing! Do you hear me? _Nothing!_"

The blue and white fire shot out once more, setting Goku's body ablaze once more.

For what seemed like an eternity, Chi-Chi and Misai watched in dismay as Sita continued to torture Goku. The sorceress watched with cruel pleasure as Goku screamed, rolling on the ground, his limbs still frozen together, trying to put the fire out… Then, she stopped only to use other ways of torture on him: she hit him, cut his body using sharp instruments, and even worse, she frequently turned herself into Chi-Chi just to make him miserable…

Chi-Chi was shaking, feeling as though she were about the throw up. This was almost as bad as watching Piccolo mercilessly massacre Goku back at the 23rd Martial Arts Tournament. Misai's face grew paler and paler by the minute. She kept looking at Goku with a mixture of horror and --- strangely enough --- _admiration_.

Although Chi-Chi couldn't tell how much time had passed in this memory, she somehow knew she was witnessing all twenty-five years of Goku's ordeal…

But the worst was yet to come.

By the time it had all stopped, Goku was lying facedown, shivering, on the ground. He was almost unrecognizable. He was thinner. His face (aside from all the blood on it) was deathly pale, and had lost all traces of that cheerful innocence. It almost made him look older… He looked nearly worse than he had when Chi-Chi had found him --- or perhaps it was because she hadn't had a clear idea of what he was going through at the time. 

Sita stood over him, laughing triumphantly. "Won't be long now," she cackled. "Your spirit energy is nearly gone." She shuddered with ecstasy. "I can feel your power flowing through me…

"Did you know that you've spent almost twenty-five years here? You'd think that someone in Other World would have noticed that something had happened to you by now. Tsk, tsk. I guess your friends don't really care about you either…

"So this is how it ends for you? Son Goku, strongest warrior in the universe, alone in Hell, abandoned by the very people he spent his whole life trying to protect."

Sita leaned close to him. "Tell me," she said softly. "Would you like to know who did this to you?"

Goku lifted his head slightly so that he could look at her at her. "You… did… this," he said weakly, coughing out blood.

"True, but I only act when a woman _asks_ me," Sita pointed out. "I'm sort of a vengeance sorceress. Someone wanted me to do all those horrible things to you. And do you know who it was?

"It was your wife. With her request, she gave me the power to drag you down to Hell."  


What little color that was left in Goku's face left it. "No…" he croaked, shaking his head feebly. "No, you're lying…"

"Not this time," Sita replied brusquely.

"No…" Tears squeezed out of his eyes. "She wouldn't do this --- even if she did hate… she wouldn't do this!"

"I'm sorry," Sita said, although she didn't sound the least bit sorry at all, "but I'm afraid it's true. I guess all those years of having you leave finally got to her."

"No!" Goku cried, trembling. "She wouldn't do that! She wouldn't… never!"

He broke off, coughing up more blood. His eyes drooped with exhaustion. He seemed to have trouble breathing. He murmured something so incoherent that even Chi-Chi couldn't hear it, and finally slipped out of consciousness.

Everything seemed to go dark. When Chi-Chi could see again, she and Misai were still in Sita's chamber, only they were back in the present time. Goku lay still on the ground. His halo flickered in and out of sight.

Chi-Chi stared at him, unaware that tears were streaming down her face. _All these years, _she thought despairingly, _I wondered what had happened to him. I thought that he was at least happy in Other World… and all this time…all this time --- I was responsible! If I hadn't said that horrible thing about him, he wouldn't wound up in this mess… _

And after everything that happened, he still believed that I didn't have anything to do with it. He still stuck up for me, even when he thought I hated him. Oh Kami…

Misai cautiously approached her. She reached out her hand, perhaps to touch Chi-Chi on the shoulder. Chi-Chi turned away, weeping quietly.

Sita emerged from the shadows. "There's nothing much to say after that," she said in a bored voice. "He's been like that even before you arrived in Other World. It's quite impressive how he still manages to cling to existence. But it won't be for much longer… in a few minutes, it will be over, and he'll be gone."

At the sight of Sita, Chi-Chi's tears of sorrow changed instantly to tears of anger. "You're… you're going to pay for this!" she choked, brandishing her sword.

"Am I?" Sita asked, amused. "Really, if he failed to defeat me, what makes you think you can?"

"She isn't going to be alone!" Misai spat, looking at Sita with hatred. She pulled out her own sword and pointed it at Sita.

Sita snorted. "Fools! You never had a chance of defeating me before. Now that I have most of his power, I'm invincible!"

Her eyes brightened and wicked look crossed her face. She carefully set down her staff. Her body started to glow. "With all the spirit energy that I've taken from him," she said quietly, "fighting me would almost be like…" 

She suddenly transformed. Chi-Chi gasped. Misai's jaw dropped.

The form of Goku was now standing where Sita had been. "It would almost be like fighting your own husband," she --- or rather, _he_ --- finished with a sneer.

To be continued…

A/N: Whew! What a chapter. Poor Goku. Things will get better soon --- I hope.

I hope this chapter wasn't too confusing. I came up with the idea of Sita showing just how Goku was being tortured, kind of like how the Ghost of Christmas Past showed Scrooge his past in _A Christmas Carol_, and to make Sita a more hateful villain. Did it work? If anyone has any questions regarding this chapter, ask them in your reviews and I'll do my best to clear it up. 

Mujitsu: Chi-Chi did take it back, but Goku unfortunately never heard her take it back. Sita's motives were explained more in this chapter. Things don't look good for Goku, do they?

Candy the Duck: I figured you did. You are one of many reviewers who I think were on to me when Chi-Chi found out Sita took him to Hell.

I won't tell: You were right, it was the flashback. Chi-Chi didn't exactly wish for it; however, her saying that it would be easier for everyone if he just went away and never came back was enough for Sita. Just goes to show you to be careful what you say… *cackles*

Lady Gwenlian: Thank you!

Woman of the Dunedain: Poor, poor Goku. He needs a hug. *hugs Goku* Hey everybody who's reviewing, give a Goku a hug too, he needs it.

Jessica C: Not much action this chapter, but it will be in the next one. Is Goku dead? Can Chi-Chi defeat Sita? Do you really think I'll give the answers away? You'll just have to wait.

Sara: Cliffhangers are very useful. You hate them, I hate them, yet when we write them, and we enjoy it. What's the title of your G/CC fic? Have you posted it yet, because I'd like to read it :)

Kinoha Chi: I hope this chapter cleared up your confusion. LOL, I love LOTR! The shield-sliding thing was really cool, but I loved it when Legolas single-handedly took down an elephant and its riders in the third movie. That was so cool! I can't wait until the DVD comes out!

Carrie2sky: You probably hate Sita even more, now that you know the details of Goku's torture. The fight will officially start in the next chapter, so don't miss it! Sorry, I can't tell you if Chi-Chi and Goku will end up together. I know, I'm evil, but I can't ruin the story… just have a little faith in me, that's all I will say.

Kakkabrat: Yeah, poor Goku could really use a senzu bean now, not to mention some cookies and milk. *Goku comes running out* Goku: Cookies?! Where?! Me *holding out a plate of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies*: Here you go, Goku. I think you deserve it. *Goku gobbles down the cookies*

Caryl Mc: Wow, what a coincidence! Happy belated birthday! I hope this chapter was well worth your wait. Chi-Chi and Misai kick butt! If only there could have been more girls kicking butt on DBZ, aside from 18 and Videl.

Arain Rowan: Yes, you were on the right track. You're very perceptive! I know exactly what the overall reaction will be if Sita gets away with what she did to Goku. Chi-Chi's really mad now, so I doubt that she will let that happen… Prom was great. I got a lot of compliments on my dress and I had a fun time :)

Misao: Misai might be starting to change her mind… she _did _admit that she felt sorry for Goku, and she didn't enjoy watching how Sita tortured him. Yeah, who could possibly hate Goku? He's sweet, naïve, funny, and my favorite DBZ guy. It makes me feel bad for what I'm doing to him.

Brandon B: Thank you!

Kinosei: Okay, first of all, time passes really quickly in Other World, so while it was twenty-five years, it might not have seen that long to Goku… well, longer, since he was being tortured. Second of all, Sita didn't goof off; she concentrated more on sucking his spirit energy out and emotionally torturing him. She likes to soften her victims up before doing the actual physical torture. And third of all, there was more detail of how Goku was affected in this chapter. I'm not Steven King; I don't go into all the gory details, although this chapter might have been just that. On a side note, it's interesting that "A Simple Wish" ended on your birthday. 

Sadako: Chi-Chi's really mad now… and really guilty because of her outburst that Goku overheard. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time… I continue to wonder how "Of Two Hearts" will turn out, so I guess we're even. It's good to be evil! *high fives Sadako* By the way, I had a lot of fun at prom. It was at this bowling alley, but we had it in a banquet room upstairs, so it was really nice.

Lady Athena X: Sadly, it wasn't a trick, as you can see in this chapter. Chi-Chi didn't mean for this to happen though, and she certainly didn't mean what she said about Goku. Goku and Vegeta work really well as a team --- their arguing makes it even funnier! Misai and Goten? Well, Goten is still single, but Misai is dead and Goten won't be dead for a long, long time. Besides, after what happened to her on Vishnu, Misai needs to work out her issues with men. Prom was a lot of fun. I went with some friends, which I guess was better than going with a date, considering that most of the boys I know at school are assholes. Not all of them, but a great deal of them. I didn't really dance with a boy, but I still had a good time with my friends. Since this is my junior year in high school, I will definitely attend it again for my senior prom! I'm sorry that your prom wasn't as enjoyable :(

Lady Thundera: What exactly did you have in mind? Knowing you, I'm almost afraid to ask. LOL! Unless we're having the same ideas, I don't think I'd put it into my story if I knew. I will say that in the next chapter, you really will want to hurt me, if you don't now. Yep, poor Chi-Chi's having one hell of a guilt trip now. Be careful what you wish for indeed… 


	9. Part Nine

Author's Note: Sorry for the late update guys. My Internet was down for a couple of days. Really frustrating… anyway, I hope this chapter was worth the wait!

Part Nine

Chi-Chi just stood there, unable to take her eyes off the duplicate of Goku. She knew that it was Sita, not Goku. Yet it looked so much like him! Everything, from the spiky black hair, to the gi he --- no, _she_ wore, was exactly like Goku's.

The only difference was the look on his face as he stared at Chi-Chi and Misai. There was a smile on his face, but it was not the sweet, innocent smile she was used to. Instead, it was cold and sinister.

She shivered. She'd never seen him look like this before…

_Stop it! _she told herself firmly. _It's not Goku. Remember what Misai told you: Sita can transform herself into anyone she wants. If you fall for her trick, she can make you do anything she wants you to. It's not Goku. If you attack her, you won't be hurting Goku._

You won't be hurting him any more than you already have, a voice in her head said snidely.

She quickly brushed that thought aside. She turned around to look where the real Goku lay, needing a solid reminder of the truth. "What the ---?" she gasped.

He had vanished.

Misai caught her eye. "Don't be fooled," she muttered out of the corner of her mouth so Sita-as-Goku couldn't hear her. "Sita creates illusions; she can make you see what she wants you to see. He's still here somewhere… she probably make him disappear to confuse you."

The imposter Goku advanced towards them. "Hello, Chi-Chi," he said in a quiet yet menacing voice. "I guess you got what you wanted, didn't you? I went away and never came back. But I'm about to make sure that you're going to do the same."

Chi-Chi glared at him, trying to conceal her growing fear. "You aren't Goku!"

Sita-as-Goku looked surprised. "Really?" he asked curiously. He rubbed the back of his head --- just like Goku used to do. "That's weird. I feel like Goku. I sound like Goku. Why aren't I Goku?"

Chi-Chi swallowed. _Misai was right, _she realized. _When Sita changes into someone else, she does a thorough job of it. I can't fall for it…if she kills Misai and me, there won't be anyone left to help Goku --- the **real** Goku!_

He took a step closer towards them. Misai backed away, still pointing her sword at him. Chi-Chi, however, remained rooted on the ground, feeling as though she had lost the feeling in all her legs. Despite her best efforts, Sita's trick was starting to affect her…

The thing that had her husband's face was looking at her with such anger and hatred. "How could you?" he demanded furiously. "How could do you do this to me? I never would have betrayed you like this!"

Chi-Chi found herself shaking her head. "N-No," she stammered, her sword slipping from her hands and falling to the floor with a clatter. "It --- It wasn't like that!"

"Did you think that I'd actually forgive you?" Sita-as-Goku cut her off. "That I wouldn't settle the score?" He laughed harshly. "Well, think again."

And then he slapped her hard across the face. Since Sita had Goku's strength, the blow was strong enough to send her flying into the wall.

Dazed, Chi-Chi stumbled to her feet, her head throbbing in pain. Blood began to trickle into her eyes from a cut on her forehead. It didn't feel like she had any broken bones, which was good since the only time she had been hit --- accidentally, of course --- by Goku, she wound up with a broken arm, a cut on her face, and a minor head injury. She supposed that her Other World body was a lot more durable.

Misai's face contorted into fury at the sight of Chi-Chi's brutal treatment. "_Hey!_" she snarled at Sita-as-Goku. "I don't care whether you're Sita or Goku, I'm not going to let you get away with that!"

She charged towards Sita-as-Goku, swinging her sword at him. He easily blocked the blade from striking it with a mere finger. Misai raised her sword, attempting to thrust it into his chest, but he easily grabbed hold of the blade.

Misai tried to yank free. Sita-as-Goku wrenched the sword away from her and knocked her to the ground. He stood on both of her legs so that she couldn't get back up.

"Hey, nice sword," he commented, admiring Misai's sword. He pointed it at Misai. "I wonder how deep it cuts."

He brushed it against Misai's cheek, cutting the scar that her brother had given her, causing it to bleed afresh. Misai cried out in pain. He made another cut on her right shoulder.

"Get off me!" Misai screamed, trying to push Sita-as-Goku off her.

"Oh, I'll get off you," Sita-as-Goku hissed. "I'll get off you when you're nothing more than a bleeding mass of flesh!" He lowered the sword until it was within an inch away from Misai's throat…

Chi-Chi, seeing what was going on, rushed to Misai's aid. She leaped behind Sita-as-Goku, about to kick him in the head. Sita-as-Goku, without even turning around to look behind him, grabbed her ankle at the last second, and threw her hard onto the ground.

Chi-Chi tasted blood in her mouth. Sita-as-Goku dropped the sword, got off Misai, grabbed Chi-Chi by the hair, and pulled her upright. His free hand balled into a fist, and he punched her right in the face. Chi-Chi fell back down. Sita-as-Goku pulled her up by her hair and hit her again.

She tried to hit him back, only hitting him was like hitting a rock. He was stronger than she was. He always had been, ever since they were children…

__

No! a voice in her head screamed. _That's not Goku! He'd never hurt you like that!_

"I never should have kept that promise," Sita-as-Goku was saying bitterly. "The one you thought I made as a child. I only married you because I felt sorry for you. I never would have made that promise if I'd actually known what getting married was --- especially if it was to _you_."

Every word coming out of his mouth was like a dagger to Chi-Chi, hurting her more than the blows he kept hitting her with. They were lies, all lies. Sita liked to twist everything, just like she had done with Goku…

Yet she couldn't help listening to what he was saying, because there was some truth in his words. Goku _did _only marry her to keep his promise. If he hadn't made it in the first place, it was doubtful that he never would have married her.

Misai stumbled to her feet, horrified at what she was seeing. "Are you going to let her talk to you like that?" she shouted to Chi-Chi. "Don't just lie there, get up!"

But Chi-Chi couldn't get up. She could only listen as Sita kept on hurting her, physically and emotionally, using a face she that loved and a voice that she trusted.

"Look at yourself," Sita-as-Goku taunted, looking at her with contempt. "And you were once a martial artist? It was probably just a passing thing. Because ever since then, you have been nothing but a whiner."

"No…" Chi-Chi moaned. Sita-as-Goku yanked back her head painfully.

"_Come on, Princess!_" Misai bellowed. "I thought you said that you weren't a battered housewife! Don't let him --- her --- whatever it is get to you!"

"You were always whining about everyone living you alone," Sita-as-Goku went on wickedly. "Well, did it ever occur to you, Chi-Chi, that maybe we actually _wanted _to get away from you? We left so that we wouldn't have to hear you yell and nag at everyone. Why else do you think everyone kept leaving? Because we didn't want to be around you."

Chi-Chi blinked, letting his words sink into her mind. No, there was no truth there. No truth at all. Goku never had complained about her yelling. He'd never used fighting as an excuse to leave her…

"I'm going to kill you, and there won't be anyone to mourn you," Sita-as-Goku whispered sinisterly. "Gohan and Goten won't know that you're gone. They don't even miss you _now_. They're much happier without you. You were always getting in the way of their fun, telling them to study instead of train. You didn't if the world was in danger as long as they were doing what you wanted. Look at what you did to Gohan --- you ruined his future. He could have been a great fighter, and now, because of you, he's a weakling."

There was a grain of truth there. Gohan didn't become a fighter, but it had nothing to do with her…

But it wasn't the whole truth. Gohan had made his own choice; he had realized that although he was powerful, he just didn't want to be a fighter all his life. He wanted to settle down and have a family --- have a normal life.

And Goku had been all right with his choice…

Meanwhile, Misai was through with just watching. "Well, if you aren't going to do anything, then I will!" she shouted.

Picking up her sword, she ran towards Sita-as-Goku, ready to attack. Sita-as-Goku dropped Chi-Chi's beaten body. Chi-Chi fell onto something rather lumpy. She looked down at herself, and to her surprise, only half of her body was on the floor.

__

What's going on? Chi-Chi wondered. She felt blindly on the "floor" around her, her hands suddenly touching something that felt like hair. She could feel someone's soft, shallow breathing below her.

__

That's impossible! she thought bewilderedly. _The only other people in the room are Sita and Misai, and they're nowhere near me. Unless ---_

Oh Kami, I'm lying on Goku! she realized with a thrill of shock. _Sita must have turned his body invisible, so that I'd believe that she was really Goku…_

Meanwhile, the battle of Sita-as-Goku and Misai was ensuing. Sita-as-Goku gathered a ki blast in his hand and fired it at Misai. Misai swung her sword out in front of her, trying to hit the blast back towards him like a baseball. The ki blast hit the sword, vaporizing it immediately.

Misai stared at her empty hands in shock. For the first time in the entire battle, she looked worried.

Sita-as-Goku advanced towards her. "You really think that you can defeat me? After everything you've heard about me from everybody I've defeated in the past?"

"No," Misai admitted, forcing a smile, "but I might as well try." She ran back into the fight.

Chi-Chi watched as Misai started to attack Sita-as-Goku with her bare hands. Misai put in a valiant effort, but it didn't do her much good. Whatever kick or punch she threw at Sita-as-Goku, he either dodged or blocked.

Sita-as-Goku smirked at her. "Was that it?" he taunted. "You're pathetic. You didn't even come close."

"I'll show you what's pathetic!" Misai yelled furiously. In what must have been a last desperate effort, she aimed a kick at him that his groin. Sita-as-Goku caught her leg at the last minute, preventing the blow, and actually lifted her off the ground, holding her by the ankle.

"Just because I _look_ like I man, doesn't mean I actually have _that_," Sita-as-Goku informed her, unimpressed. He threw Misai hard on the ground. "Now let me show how a real attack is done."

He gathered his hands together and took a step back. A ball of energy started to gather in his hands. "Ka… me…"

Chi-Chi was horrified. _There's no way Misai can survive a Kamehameha Attack! _she thought desperately. _I can't let her get killed because of me!_

"Ha… me…"

"STOP!" Chi-Chi screamed.

Sita-as-Goku turned around and stared at Chi-Chi. "Begging for mercy?" he asked smugly. "Go ahead, I've always enjoyed it."

"I'm not begging for mercy!" Chi-Chi said furiously. She managed to stand up. Her body was still sore, so she found the sword she had dropped and leaned it for support. "I'm telling you that you're little trick isn't working! I know that you aren't Goku!"

Sita-as-Goku stared at her, surprised.

"He never would have said the things you said," Chi-Chi continued, glaring at Sita-as-Goku. "He never once accused me of getting in the way of our sons' training!"

"Just because I didn't say it doesn't mean I didn't think it," Sita-as-Goku said coldly.

Chi-Chi barked out a laugh. "Is this the best you can come up with? You may have used your powers to spy on him throughout all these years, but you certainly didn't know him. And I'll tell you why: if Goku would have really thought that I had gotten in the way of his training, he would have said something when Gohan _chose_ to give up fighting."

Sita-as-Goku's eyes widened with shock.

"That's right!" Chi-Chi said triumphantly. "The real Goku never would have called Gohan weak! He was proud of his sons, even if they weren't fighters! I guess you were too busy concentrating on his faults and my 'hatred' to do enough of an accurate job of imitating him!"

As confused as she had been with Sita turning into Goku and making his body disappear, that fact stayed solid in her mind: Sita didn't know Goku. Maybe that little trick of turning into other people had worked on Goku when she turned herself into Chi-Chi, considering that Goku really had thought that Chi-Chi hated him… but she obviously hadn't done such a thorough job assuming Goku's identity.

"You don't know Goku," Chi-Chi went on, "so you might as well drop the act and fight us like a woman!"

Sita changed back into her true form. At the same time, Goku's unconscious body was made visible again a few feet away from Chi-Chi.

Misai laughed, in spite of her injuries. "Well, well," she jeered at Sita, who looked positively furious about being outsmarted by Chi-Chi. "I guess you've grown rusty over the past few centuries!"

Sita's lips drew back in a feral snarl. "Perhaps I underestimated your intelligence, but this doesn't mean you'll win! I'm the most powerful sorceress in the universe!"

"We'll just have to see about that, won't we?" Misai said cockily, gingerly getting to her feet and going to stand beside Chi-Chi.

Sita's anger vanished almost immediately, replaced by a crafty look. Clearly, she was planning another trick. "You know, even if you manage to defeat me and save him, it doesn't mean you'll get what you want," she said slyly to Chi-Chi. "You actually think he'll forgive you for sending him to Hell?"

"That's not what happened and you know it!" Chi-Chi said fiercely.

"Nevertheless, you were responsible," Sita said pointedly. "Even if you save him, you still won't save him for yourself."

Chi-Chi bit her lip and looked at the ground. This time, Sita wasn't lying. Goku was a forgiving person; on the battle of Namek, he was ready to spare Frieza even after everything that he had done. Yet he'd never been betrayed by anyone close to him --- let alone someone he loved. After everything she had put him through, was there any hope of reconciliation between them?

"I… I don't care," Chi-Chi replied defiantly. "The only thing that matters to me is his safety."

Sita laughed wickedly. "You're lying. The only reason you went to Hell at all was that so you could be with him. You turned fickle on your anger because you can't stand to be without him. How ironic… you came all this way for him, and now he won't want anything to do with you. It almost makes me want to want to keep ali---"

She broke off as Chi-Chi slashed her face with her sword. Caught off guard, Sita touched her bleeding cheek. The cut glowed briefly, then disappeared.

"What?" Sita exclaimed, enraged. "Nobody makes me bleed!"

"Funny, I think I just did," Chi-Chi retorted.

"_You will pay for that, mortal!_" Sita screamed. She dealt Chi-Chi a blow in the stomach. Winded, Chi-Chi fell to her knees, dropping her sword. Before she could recover, Sita grabbed Chi-Chi by the throat, lifting her a few feet off the ground.

Misai quickly raced to Chi-Chi's rescue, but Sita gathered a ki blast in her hand and fired it at Misai. It sent Misai flying into the wall, the crash making yet another hole there.

Sita leered at Chi-Chi who was struggling for air in her death-grip. "Don't worry, I won't kill you yet," she hissed. "I never liked a quick, merciless kill. No, I think I'd like to see you suffer little bit more before I finish the job…"

Just before Chi-Chi lost consciousness, Sita's free hand formed a fist and came straight at Chi-Chi. Chi-Chi felt herself being released as the force of Sita's blow knocked her to the ground, landing beside Goku's prone body.

Sita bent over her. "Instead, you can see your beloved husband one last time before he dies --- which won't be long now."

She turned on her heel and headed towards Misai, who was limping out of the hole in the stone wall. She inched towards the sword that Chi-Chi had dropped, but Sita stepped on her hand and snatched it at the last second.

"Why are you fighting me, Misai?" Sita inquired, grinding her hand into the ground. Misai let out a cry of pain. "I only did what you asked, after all. I got rid of Amar for you, and I helped you escape to Vishnu. You just never asked where you wanted to go…

Misai told Sita to do something that Chi-Chi would have made her wash out her mouth with soap.

Sita only laughed harder, cutting Misai's other scar open with her sword. "But why are you helping him?" she asked, indicating Goku. "You don't even know him and you hate men as much as I do. Why the change of mind?"

"I wasn't helping him, I was helping the Princess," Misai snapped.

"So you'd die just to help her?" Sita wanted to know.

"If helping her meant getting out of Hell and bringing a vicious hag like you down, then yes, yes I would." She hesitated. "Besides, she kind of grew on me," she admitted quietly.

"How sweet," Sita said dryly. "Well, you don't need to worry, Misai. By the time I'm through with you, you won't be in Hell. In fact, you won't even exist!"

Chi-Chi, fighting to stay conscious, could only watch in horror as Sita used her sword to make several cuts all over Misai's body. She had to help Misai… but she was too weak from Sita's beating to even move.

_This can't be happening, _she thought, feeling light-headed. Her vision swam in and out of focus. _I didn't come all this way to lose. Goku's going to die… Misai and I will probably be next._

Despair consumed her. _I never should have come…I never even stood a chance. Maybe Sita was right about me --- I **am** weak. I was never as strong as Gohan, Goten, or Goku…_

"Chi-Chi?" a hoarse voice whispered from nearby.

Mustering up her remaining strength, Chi-Chi turned her head. _Goku!_ she tried to cry out, but she was too exhausted to even say a word.

Goku was awake; however, his condition hadn't improved. His wounds were bleeding severely and although he was looking directly at her, there was a glazed, unfocused look in his eyes. He was barely even there anymore. Chi-Chi had never seen him look this helpless --- except for when his body had been completely ravaged by the battle with Vegeta.

"Chi-Chi?" he repeated deliriously. He blinked, his eyes widening. "Is it you? Chi-Chi?"

Tears filled Chi-Chi's eyes. _It's me,_ she thought, hoping he could somehow hear her. _I'm here now. I'm so sorry I couldn't help you…_

"I'm sorry," Goku said hoarsely. It seemed to cost him a terrible effort to say every word. "I'm… sorry… for everything. I'm sorry that I left… you… and our family. I… didn't want to leave… it had nothing… to do with you…"

_Don't talk like that! _Chi-Chi wanted to say. _None of this was your fault --- it was mine! **I** was the one who got you into this mess. Don't die, Goku…I know you're in pain, but please just hang on…_

He winced, coughing out blood. "I --- I understand… why you hate me," he said ruefully. "I deserve this. I tried to be a good husband… I really did… Guess that trying wasn't enough."

_That isn't true! _Chi-Chi screamed silently. _I never hated you! Please forgive me, I never should have said that! Don't believe what that witch told you! You weren't a bad husband; I know that you never mean to hurt me!_

Goku's voice suddenly increased in strength as he spoke his next words: "But I did love you. I still do. No matter what happens, I always will. I just want to let you know that before I do this…"

__

He managed to drag himself closer to her and hold one of her hands with his good one. "You have to get out of here," he whispered. "Forget about me. Forget that you even knew me. That way, you can be happy… and that's all I want…"

At first, Chi-Chi couldn't understand what Goku was saying. How could she get out of here? She couldn't even _move_! And what exactly did he have to do? Could he do _anything_, with all the energy he had ---?

And then dawned on her.

No. _No!_ He couldn't do that. He couldn't!

A sad smile flickered across Goku's pale, wan face. "It's better this way," he said quietly. "I don't… want to hurt you anymore…"

_NO! _she tried to scream. _No, it's not better this way, Goku! You don't need to do this --- you **can't** do this! You'll hurt me even worse if you do! Don't you know how long I've waited? How much I've missed you? What I had to go through to get here?_

Sita had stopped torturing Misai. Still carrying the sword, she walked towards where Goku and Chi-Chi were lying, a hungry expression on her face. Misai rose painfully to her feet, wanting to see what was going on.

__

But of all this, Chi-Chi was unaware of. All that she was aware of was that everything she had gone through up to this point was about to be thrown away. She had to stop him! She opened her mouth to shout, but nothing came out.

Slowly, Goku bent down, gently kissing her on the cheek. He shut his eyes, squeezing her hand.

"N-N-No," she managed to croak out. "Don't…"

Suddenly, she felt something surge from Goku's hand to her own. Her body jerked as though she had received an electric shock --- only it was much more powerful than electricity. It wasn't much, just a spark really. Yet she could feel that spark flow through the rest of her body, renewing her strength and energy.

Chi-Chi bolted up to a sitting position… just as Goku slumped to the floor with a dull thud. "NO!" she screamed. She seized her husband's shoulders and started shaking him. "What have you done, Goku? _Why?_"

Goku lay still in her arms. At first she thought (or maybe hoped) that he had merely passed out again. Then her eyes moved upward to the top of his head.

The halo was gone.

Sita laughed in triumph, seeing what had happened. "Well, it's about time."

To be continued…

A/N: Well, I did say that this was going to be easy. Uh-oh… ducks as flames shoot at me Yeah, yeah, I know I'm evil, but I'll make it up to you next time.

Lady Gwenlian: I'll bet both you feel sorry for Goku and hate Sita even more now.

Gwuinivyre: Thank you for your compliments on my writing. Yes, Goku really doesn't deserve what he's going through. A lot of people agree with you about Sita. They probably think I need to go too.

Carrie2sky: I got both your reviews. It doesn't look good for Goku, does it? Chi-Chi didn't really kick Sita's butt yet, but she was able to wise up to her little mind games. She isn't just a strong fighter; she's also really smart.

Woman of the Dunedain: LOL! I don't think Chi-Chi would want you to do that. snatches Goku back Sorry. He's not going until I'm finished with him. I'm sure you, along with Chi-Chi, don't think he should be anywhere near me, especially what happened in this chapter, but at least trust me when I say that I know what I'm doing. Actually, I wouldn't mind having Goku to myself, so I applaud your efforts. What can I say, you've got the right idea! ;)

I won't tell: I saw the series finale of _Friends_. My parents usually watch it, not me, but I couldn't help watching it just to see how it ended. The duck and the chick were pretty cute :)

Candy the Duck: Goten hearing a noise and finding nothing in the flashback was a big hint. You and Lady Thundera were the only ones to figure it out, as far as I know. Well spotted!

Blo0d: Thank you!

Caryl Mc: Goku thought Chi-Chi hated him because he didn't stay to hear the rest of the conversation between her and Goten. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time… you'll find more details of what he thought later. Sorry, but things have to get worse before they get better. That's usually how it works.

Kitty: Sorry about the long wait. See above author's note.

Jessica C: Goku has a very high endurance, but the emotional pain was a little more than he could stand. Poor baby :(

Daughter of Ashes: Yes, Sita turning into Goku was a very interesting twist. Actually, the final season of _Buffy_ inspired that. During the final season, the main villain was The First, who used its power to change into dead people to manipulate and torture the people closest to the deceased. I thought that was interesting.

Mujitsu: I'm thinking that the fic, considering its length, would probably be more like one of those DBZ movies. Why would it have been banned, because of the violence? Yeah, Cartoon Network probably would have censored most of the damage done on Goku. I didn't use to reply to people's reviews, but since a lot of authors whom I read from did that on ff.net, I decided to give it a try. I usually reply to the reviews on Wednesday, the day before I usually post chapters. Since my Internet was down, I had more than enough time to reply. There are at least five chapters left, but I'm not making any promises. I could change things at the last minute.

Lady Athena X: I've never seen Inyuasha, but I've heard of it. Can you tell me who Naraku is? Chi-Chi should have been honest with Goku from the beginning, but it never occurred to her that he might have overheard that conversation. Goku should have been honest too, only he was too hurt to bring it up. More details on that in a future chapter, although it doesn't look too good for the couple, does it?

Sara: You know what? This fic is like "A Simple Wish"! I'm sure you found yet another parallel between the two fics. It's different though, because if Goku survives this mess, he's going to remember everything that happened.

Lady Thundera: I'm glad you think Sita is a good villain. Normally when I write stories, I have trouble writing a villain who is three-dimensional, unless I write a Harry Potter fic, and the villain is already done for me. I love rooting for the good guy too. Things look don't look well for the good guys right now though… cackles If what you had in mind was worse than what happened in this chapter, then yes, I probably don't want to know.


	10. Part Ten

Part Ten

"No!" Chi-Chi cried, lifting Goku's body in her arms. "Goku, don't go! You can't die on me now!"

Her mind went blank with disbelief. This wasn't happening. She had not come all this way just to lose him again. She couldn't let him die thinking that…

Misai hurriedly crawled towards them. "What happened?" she asked Chi-Chi anxiously. Then she looked at Goku. She gasped. "His halo's gone!"

"That's because he's dead," Sita sneered. She played with the sword idly. "He doesn't even have an afterlife now. A pity that I didn't get his last bit of spirit energy… it doesn't make a difference though…

"What a fool he was! He gave up his energy so that you could escape the same fate. You only have a fraction of his spirit energy while I have most of it. I'll crush you easily. He's died for nothing!"  
  
"YOU SHUT UP!" Chi-Chi screamed. "HE ISN'T DEAD! HE WOULDN'T HAVE LET HIMSELF DIE TO A WITCH LIKE YOU!"

"And yet that's exactly what happened," Sita dryly.

Chi-Chi ignored her. Sita was a liar. She couldn't believe it --- she _wouldn't_ believe it. Just because his halo was gone didn't mean that he was dead… Goku couldn't be gone forever; he always came back. Somehow, he always found a way to come back…

_What about when Sita killed him? _a tiny voice in her head asked. _He didn't come back then. There was no way for him to._

Misai stared down at Goku, her eyes wide with astonishment. "He… he did that?" she asked hoarsely. "He gave up his spirit energy for you? But… but why? Why would he do that?"

"He isn't dead!" Chi-Chi shouted, tears starting to stream down her face. She shook the body even harder. "Goku, please wake up!"

Misai didn't hear anything Chi-Chi was saying. It was almost as though she had gone into a state of shock. "None of the men on Vishnu would have done that for their wives, even if they were dying," she whispered, shaking her head. "They _never_ would have done that… Why did he do it?"

"Goku, you can't keep doing this to me!" Chi-Chi hollered. "Please, for Kami's sake, wake up!"

Misai suddenly came to her senses. She lowered her ear to Goku's chest, apparently listening for something. She touched his hand and recoiled. "He's so cold," she murmured. She turned to Chi-Chi. "I hate to say it, but she's right," she said sadly. "He's d ---"

"HE ISN'T DEAD!" Chi-Chi yelled, furious that Misai would even think such a thing.

Denial was her only weapon. Because if she accepted that Goku was gone, that meant that he was really never coming back. There would be no dragon balls to fix this, no Kais to give their lives for him… no other afterlife for him to go to. It also meant that she had been responsible for his demise… and that he had died thinking that she had hated him, never knowing the truth.

And she would never, ever forgive herself for that…

"I'm sorry," Misai said gently, and she truly looked it. She put a hand on Chi-Chi's shoulder. "I'm sorry, I really am… but he's gone."

__

It's not going to happen! Chi-Chi told herself firmly, desperately watching Goku's still face. _Any minute now, he's going to wake up and be all right. And then I can apologize to him and set him straight…_

She waited in vain for him to wake up. She knew that he would, Goku couldn't die. _Come on, Goku, come on! _she silently urged him. _You're going to make it, I know you will!_

But Goku continued to lie on the ground, pale and unmoving.

"No!" Chi-Chi sobbed, the full weight of the situation sinking down on her, forcing her mind to accept the truth. He really was gone…

She hugged Goku's body close to her, pressing her cheek against his cold one. "No… not again!" she wailed, her tears dripping onto Goku's face. "Oh Kami,_ not again_! _GOKU!_"

_Chi-Chi sat alone in Gohan's living room. Gohan and Videl were upstairs, trying to comfort Pan, whose cries were still audible from anywhere in the house. Chi-Chi could only listen to the devastated sobs, feeling as though they were piercing her heart._

It was late at night. The entire Son family had spent the day at Gohan's house after hearing about Goku's death, trying to cope with the news and be there for each other.

Needless to say, they were coping with it very well. They just all sat together in silent grief, except for Pan, who couldn't stop crying. She really loved her grandpa…

And Chi-Chi was utterly lost. She should have been used to this by now; Goku had died twice already. He left to train Uub, visiting everyone about once every few weeks. So why did it keep hurting so much?

_Because she loved him. And, like all the other times he died, so many things were left unsaid between them…_

__

Goten had already gone home. She knew that she ought to go home too, but she wasn't ready to. She wasn't ready to go back to her house, knowing that Goku was never coming back to it.

Just then, Gohan walked into the room and sat beside his mother on the couch. His sad, weary expression made him look older than he really was.

"How's Pan?" Chi-Chi asked softly.

"She's still crying," Gohan replied. "Videl's still trying to comfort her, only there's not a lot she can do." He shook his head sadly. "She just won't believe that Dad's dead…"

There was silence between the two of them. Finally, Chi-Chi asked, "How are you holding up?"

Gohan sighed. "I just can't believe he's gone…"

"Neither can anybody," Chi-Chi replied somberly. "How could this have happened? The last time he was here, he was fine. Nothing was wrong with him!"

"I know," Gohan said grimly. "But we'll try and find out what happened." He hesitated. "I just wish that…"

"What?" Chi-Chi asked curiously.

"I was really mad at him for leaving with Uub," Gohan admitted. "I mean, it had been ten years since he had come back, and I thought he was home for good. Then he just leaves again. I felt like he didn't care about us, even Goten kept telling me why he left."

Chi-Chi nodded gravely. "I know. We were all upset."

"Maybe deep down, I knew what Goten said was the truth…but I didn't care. I didn't want to see him or talk to him. Whenever he came back to visit, I made sure I was far away from the house at the time. I knew that it wrong and that I should at least talk to him, but I still avoided him."

"And you want to know what the worst part is?" he asked bitterly. "It wasn't until today that I understood why he left…and that he did care about us. Now I can't even apologize for the way I acted because he's gone. I don't know what he must have thought…"

Chi-Chi felt a stab of guilt, remembering her own distant treatment of Goku. However, she kept this to herself; she had to stay strong for her family.

"I miss him," Gohan said quietly. He looked at the floor, blinking fervently. "I know I acted like I didn't miss him when he left with Uub…but I missed him."

"I know you did," Chi-Chi said consolingly, hugging him. Tears started in her eyes. "I miss him too. But we have to be strong, though. You've got to help Pan through this."

Gohan shook his head. "How could I have thought those things? When Dad left all those times before, I understood why he did it. Why was this time so different?"

"I think because this time, the universe wasn't in danger," Chi-Chi said grimly.

"Well, I know why he had to do it now…and on some level, he was right. Somebody had to be around to protect everyone." He paused. "Maybe it he wouldn't have left if I hadn't given up fighting."

"Don't say that!" Chi-Chi admonished him. "It was his choice to leave; it didn't have anything to do with you! And it was your choice to become a scholar too. Your father only wanted you to do what **you** want. It didn't matter to him whether you were a fighter or not. He loved you. He was proud of you."

"I know," Gohan said heavily. "It's just that…I wish I had a second chance to tell him…"

Chi-Chi felt another pang of guilt. **I want one too, **she thought ruefully.

"You don't always get second chances," she said wisely. "Besides, it's not like we'll never see him again. You can tell him when you die and go to the Other World."

Gohan smiled sadly. "That won't be for a long time."

Chi-Chi couldn't help but smile back. "Thank goodness for that," she said with a laugh. Looking at the clock, she stood up. "I'd better go home. I'll see you tomorrow." She kissed her son on the cheek and left the house.

As soon as she entered her own house, she went straight up the stairs and into her bedroom. She stretched out on the bed, facing the opposite side that Goku had once slept on…

Just a few weeks earlier, they had been in bed together, yet they slept on opposite sides. She hadn't wanted to be close to him, because it would have made it harder for her to have him leave her again.

****

Did I do the right thing? she wondered. **It didn't really make it easier for me to let him go. It just made it worse…**

She sighed. Tonight she would have rather had him back home, holding him close to her, instead of being in their bed alone.

Chi-Chi cried harder as she remembered that night. Her only comfort since then had been that she would be with Goku once she died. Now she couldn't even have that…

And it was all because of her.

"Why?" she whispered tearfully to the lifeless body in her arms, rocking him as though he were a baby. "Why did you do that? Giving up your spirit energy for me… after what I said… what I did…"

Sita snorted. "Well, isn't this typical. Turning on the tears because you can't have what you want. You really _are_ weak."

Chi-Chi looked up at her, enraged. "You killed him!"

"He killed himself," Sita corrected her, smiling wickedly. "It was his choice to give you his spirit energy, pointless as it was. And let's not forget _your_ little part in all of this."

"No!" Chi-Chi shouted, although deep down, she knew that Sita was right. "I didn't --- I never --- _you_ did this!"

"I merely did what you asked me to do," Sita replied simply. "After all, this is what you wanted. He deserved it, and you know it."

"HE NEVER DESERVED THIS!" Chi-Chi cried in anguish. "He never deserved to die in the middle of nowhere! He never deserved to go to Hell! He never deserved to die thinking that his family hated him…" Her voice broke. "You took him away from us… I never even got to tell him that I loved him!"

"And whose fault is that?" Sita asked, her eyebrows raised. "Don't blame me for what you asked me to do." She smiled evilly. "Dear, dear, I wonder what his former foes will think when they hear of his demise, especially when they find out he was betrayed by his own wife. They'll have a good laugh about that."

Misai looked at Sita with loathing. She leaned close to Chi-Chi. "You know, there's an old saying on Vishnu," she whispered. "'Women weep for the fallen and men avenge them.' Well, _I_ say, 'Less weeping, more fighting.' Let's kill the bitch once and for all!"

Chi-Chi just sat there, stroking Goku's hair. _There has to be a way to bring him back,_ she thought desperately. _There just **has** to be!_

"Snap out of it, Princess!" Misai hissed, losing her patience. "There's nothing more we can do for him, but we can sure that she doesn't ruin anybody else's life!"

Chi-Chi swallowed, nodding. A few more tears fell from her eyes. Reluctantly, she lowered Goku's body back onto the floor, wiping her eyes dry.

Misai was right. There would be time for mourning later. Goku had given her the last of his spirit energy to in order to escape. However, she had no intention of doing that; she was going to use it. If she couldn't save him, she could at least avenge him.

Chi-Chi rose to her feet, and so did Misai. Sita surveyed them with cruel amusement. "So, you're finally getting up?" she cackled.

White-hot rage coursed through Chi-Chi's body, mingling with her sorrow. "I'm --- I'm going to kill you!" she said in a trembling voice.

Sita smirked. "How? I already proved that I'm stronger than you are. Perhaps another dose of pain is order before I kill you…"

"You're the one who's going to be feeling pain!" Chi-Chi snarled.

"Not that I'm not for that, but do you have any ideas how to do it?" Misai muttered out of the corner of her mouth.

"I'm working on it," Chi-Chi muttered back.

Quickly tried to think of a plan. Sita already proved that she was stronger than they were. She had magic, strength, and also the remaining weapon that Chi-Chi had. How could they stop her?

She glanced at the sword in Sita's hand. Perhaps if she had it, she'd fare a better chance. She lunged towards Sita.

Sita immediately caught her by the arm, twisting it behind her back. Dropping the sword, she grabbed her other arm, bending it back painfully. Chi-Chi tried to wriggle out of her grip. Sita's hands tightened, about to break both arms…

Misai quickly ran towards them. While Sita was occupied trying to break Chi-Chi's arm, Misai snatched the sword out from under Sita, and started to thrust it in her chest.

Sita turned her head to Misai before the blade even struck her. Her eyes glowed white. Misai suddenly froze in place.

"I think I've had just about enough of you," Sita hissed. She raised a hand, gathering a large ki blast and fired it at Misai. Misai was thrown backward, smashing right into the wall.

"Misai!" Chi-Chi screamed, horrified.

The ground shook from force of the blast, causing debris to start crashing down from the wall. Sita raised her arm upward. A shield was formed around her and Chi-Chi. The debris bounced off the shield as though it were rubber and landed on the ground, causing it to shake even more.

Sita waved her hand again. The shield disappeared. She glanced towards the hole in the wall where Misai lay, unconscious, one of her hands still clutching the sword. Her body was half covered by debris from the wall.

"Finally," Sita rolled her eyes. "That brat was starting to get on my nerves." She glanced at Chi-Chi wickedly. "Now it's just you and me…"

Sita's eyes flashed again. Chi-Chi tried to get up, but her limbs felt strangely frozen. She couldn't move. _Oh Kami, she's paralyzed me too! _she realized.

Sita lifted her right arm, opening her hand. Almost immediately, her staff levitated off the floor, flying straight into her open hand. She pointed her staff at Chi-Chi, the crystal glowing brightly.

"Let's see," Sita said thoughtfully. "It took me twenty-five years for me to break the Saiyan… I wonder how long it will take to break _you_!" Blue and white flames shot out of the staff towards Chi-Chi.

Pain beyond pain consumed every inch of Chi-Chi's body. She writhed on the floor, screaming in agony. Even though it was fire, it felt like more than just a burn --- it was a shock, a cut, and a burn all rolled into one…

Then suddenly, it stopped. Chi-Chi lay on the floor, gasping for air, feeling as though she was about to pass out. Her vision was slightly blurry. She could make out Sita's face, leering over her sadistically.

"You know, I must thank you for permitting me to bring him here," she said sinisterly. "Of all the men I've killed, he was one to remember. All that power… and he had such courage. Well, at least until the end. He was blubbering like a baby, unable to believe that you would do anything to betray him. And he was supposed to be the strongest fighter in the universe!" She laughed mockingly. "What a joke!"

"Don't --- you --- _dare_ --- talk --- about --- him --- like --- that!" Chi-Chi shouted in between heavy pants.

Sita raised her staff, and the blue and white flames struck her again. It was even worse than the last time. Chi-Chi clenched her teeth, willing herself not to scream aloud. No matter what happened, she would not give Sita the satisfaction of knowing that she was suffering. She was tough… she could handle it…

"How can you keep on going?" Sita wanted to know as Chi-Chi lay twitching on the floor. "You don't have anything to live for…"

__

Don't listen to her, a voice in Chi-Chi's head ordered her frantically, trying to fight the pain. _She's trying to get into your head again!_

"You think you can beat me?" Sita went on disdainfully. "Look at yourself! I have you at my mercy!" She pointed to where Misai was lying. "There's no one to help you. You're going to die… and for what purpose? To save him?" She indicated Goku. "He's already gone…

"You spent twenty-five years waiting for him, searching Other World for him… even braving the depths of Hell for him, only to fail because of one mistake?" She laughed as though it were a hilarious joke. "I think that's the worst thing I ever heard. How delightful!"

Sita watched her for a few more minutes before releasing her from the flames. Chi-Chi moaned and coughed out blood.

"Maybe I could let you go," Sita said on a sudden thought. "After all, emotional pain is much more terrible than physical. If I killed you, it would just bring you peace."

Tears of fury and pain welled in Chi-Chi's eyes as she looked back at Sita defiantly.

Sita looked at her, deep in thought. "I have seen your entire life," she mused. "We have much in common, you and I. We were both royalty, yet we gave all those riches up to be with men whom we deluding ourselves into loving. We would have done anything for thing, and in the end, they forsook us. Very curious, indeed…"

"I'm… not like you!" Chi-Chi said weakly.

"Come to think of it," Sita continued, "your husband reminded me of Rama too. He cared more about fighting than he cared about you, just as Rama cared more for his honor than he cared about me…"

"That's not true!" Chi-Chi said vehemently, glaring at Sita. "Goku was nothing like that!"

"Please," Sita scoffed. "Just because he refused to believe that you were responsible for his demise when I told him, doesn't mean he would have believed it when someone else told him."

"You don't know that!" Chi-Chi yelled.

"Deny it all you want, but you know it's true," Sita pressed. "I saw your journey in Hell; I know that Misai told you all about me. Why, you even felt _sorry_ for me. I wonder what your precious Goku would think if he knew that you actually _pitied_ the sorceress who tortured and murdered him? Would he be so eager to defend you then?"

Chi-Chi was filled with fury at those words. "You're right," she growled. "I did feel sorry for you. Not anymore, though."

"Why, because I'm so evil?" Sita asked monotonously. "Or is it because I destroyed your husband?"

"It's because you're weak!" Chi-Chi spat.

Sita laughed mockingly. "And yet I am the one who has power over you."

"You _are_ weak!" Chi-Chi said fiercely. "After Rama deserted you, you didn't have anybody. So you resorted to selling yourself to dark forces for powers to kill him! But that wasn't enough for you, was it? You had to make everyone as miserable as you are by taking advantage of women who were in pain…"

Sita rolled her eyes. "Is this how you try and make me feel bad? By listing my achievements?"

"Misery loves company," Chi-Chi said bitterly. "You didn't have anyone to take comfort in, so you had to take comfort in revenge! I, on the other hand, actually had people I loved aside from my husband!"

Sita stared at her, her face emotionless.

"I had a family!" Chi-Chi shouted, her own words giving her strength. "I missed Goku and wanted to be with him, but I was able take comfort in my family and friends! They were there for me when he was gone! I didn't take mope around or take pleasure in revenge; I went on living --- because of them! They helped me be strong!

"So who's the weaker one? You had to resort to killing other men to make yourself feel better! You didn't have anybody! Let me tell you something, you're not just weak, you're pathetic! And even you do kill, nothing is going to change th---"

Chi-Chi broke off as Sita kicked her hard in the face. It hurt, but she wasn't deterred. "I guess I've found _your_ weakness!" she said triumphantly.

Sita forced a smile. "I guess you and I weren't as alike as I thought. You're of no use to me; nevertheless, you have given me something to do. Yes… why not? I've already killed your husband and I'm going to kill you, so why don't I finish the job?"

Chi-Chi's stomach sank. "What --- What do you mean?" she asked fearfully.

"Once I break out of Hell and into the living realm, I think I'll pay a little visit to Earth," Sita breathed. She took up her staff again. "Yes… I'll kill every single member of your beloved family. And don't even say that I'm no match for them, because with Goku's strength, I'm more than a match."

"No, you can't do that!" Chi-Chi cried frantically. "I won't let you!"

Sita snorted. "You can't stop me when you're destroyed. But before I do that, I think I should let you know that I'm going to what happened to Goku, and how you were responsible for it."

"There's no way they'll believe you!" Chi-Chi said furiously.

"They'll believe anything I tell them," Sita said smoothly. "Especially since I can be whoever I want to be."

As she said this, she changed back into the replica of Goku. "I'll tell them every single last detail," Sita-as-Goku hissed. "I'll make them hate you for what you've done to him…"

"You'll never get away with it!" Chi-Chi said incredulously. "They'll know that you aren't him!"

Sita changed back into her normal form. "I can imitate his ki," she said silkily. "No one would be the wiser."

"There are people in Other World who know what you've done!" Chi-Chi said quickly, thinking of King Kai and Baba. "They'll stop you!"

"Let them try," Sita said arrogantly. She raised her staff, shooting the blue and white flames at Chi-Chi's body once more.

This time, Chi-Chi was unable to hold back her screams. The flames attacked her already-weakened body. _No more!_ she thought madly. _Let it stop, I can't take it anymore! I can't do this! I'm not strong like Goku, Gohan, and Goten…_

"Take as much time dying as you like," Sita sneered, raising her voice so that it could be heard over the screams. "I'm in no hurry. Too bad you won't be able to warn your family of what's going to come. For what it's worth they'll be joining you soon…"

It seemed as though all hope was lost. Thanks to Sita's paralyzing spell, there was nowhere for Chi-Chi to escape from the severe pain. She gasped for air, her vision steadily going hazy. After everything that she went through, she was going to die --- again!

_I'm sorry, Goku, _she thought miserably. _I tried. I really tried…_

To be continued…

Mujitsu: Goku gave his energy so that she could get away, but close enough. I will not confirm his fate. You'll just have to wait and see what happens. No, I don't have any new ideas at the moment.

Caryl Mc: I'm glad I stirred those emotions in you :) Yeah, I did feel sad about doing that to Goku. He's my favorite character and I love him, only you usually have to torture the favorite character in fanfics.

VidelChan313: I'm glad; this is my first DBZ fanfic that I've written action scenes, and I wasn't sure if I could do it right. You trust me? Well, you're in the minority ;)

Lady Gwenlian: I hope you did well on your theory exam!

Carrie2sky: My Internet's been on and off this week too. It's irritating, but we're getting it fixed next Monday. No, I'm not collaborating with Sadako, but I do think that we both delight in torturing Goku, which has gotten Chi-Chi looking over our backs. Chi-Chi is smart. She had to have been to home-school Gohan during his childhood, which I'm certain that he did, since he didn't attend school until he was a teenager in the Buu saga. Sita, a hellcat? That's a new one. LOL!

I won't tell: _Friends_ had a semi-sad ending, seeing as how everyone left the apartment and the foosball table was torn down, but still a happy ending. Oh, that reminds me, Angel is ending this week! Everything's ending… what am I going to watch on the WB aside from _Smallville_ (which I'm sure is ending next year since the show is running out of original plots and is becoming a ridiculous cross between _Dawson's Creek_ and _Roswell_)?

Jessica C: Things can always get worse. No, this isn't an angst fic in general, although there's much more angst fic to come. ::laughs evilly::

Misao: It seems like Misai's beginning to come around, doesn't it? I like Goku too, which is surprising because of everything I've put him through. If this keep up, Chi-Chi won't let me anywhere near him…

Lady Athena X: Isn't _Finding Nemo_ great? Yep, it's right up there with _Aladdin_, _Shrek_, _The Lion King_, and _Beauty and the Beast_, and all the other Disney and Pixar collaborations. Too bad Pixar doesn't work with Disney anymore, because most Disney cartoons these days aren't that good :( Marlin did remind me greatly of Chi-Chi because she worries about her family and was a little overprotective of them. Remember what she was like up until the Cell Saga. Goku reminds me of Dory, because Dory was naïve and happy-go-lucky. I've seen a little bit of Inuyasha, but I never can catch the whole show. That monk guy (forgot his name) reminds me of Roshi, except Roshi never asked a woman to bear his child. ::shudders:: Gross! I bet you hate Sita even more now that she's torturing Chi-Chi. If I may quote Eric Cartman, Sita's a Super King Kamehameha biach!

Lady Thundera: More bittersweet moments in the next chapter. Giving up his life for others is something that Goku's done all his life, since those are the ways that he died. I put in Sita-as-Goku during the transformation scene so that people wouldn't get confused, though it is clear that Goku would never, EVER say all those horrible things. I think highly of Goku, as you can see. Tee hee. Sita is a bad girl, all right. She and Frieza would make a pretty gruesome team, but Sita works alone.

Candy: I don't know if this chapter made you happier, but I updated!


	11. Part Eleven

Author's Note: I am so, so sorry for the late update; my Internet went down for several days. We are hoping to get it fixed for good this week. Don't expect the next part until next week because of this early update, okay?

Part Eleven

King Kai and Baba watched in horror as Sita mercilessly tortured Chi-Chi. It didn't look like she could hold on much longer. She was going to be destroyed unless somebody helped her!

"We've got to do something!" King Kai shouted to Baba. "Open the portal, Baba, we have to get Chi-Chi out of there!"

Baba shook her head. "I can't."

"You can't?" King Kai shrieked frantically. "What do you mean you can't? I thought we agreed that if things got bad, we'd pull her out of there!"

"That was before we knew what Sita was up to," Baba said heavily. "You heard her! She's planning to break out of Hell once this is over! If we opened the portal in Sita's tower right now, she'd kill Chi-Chi and go right through it!"

King Kai's eyes widened behind his sunglasses. "I never thought of that," he muttered. "But there's got to be something that we can do! We can't just let this happen to Chi-Chi!" He thought hard. "I know! I'll contact Pikkon or any of the other warriors from Grand Kai's planet to go to Hell and rescue her…"

"And Sita will destroy them as well," Baba cut in grimly. "Look what she did to Goku! If he couldn't defeat her, then who can?"

"There's no one else down there who's going to help her!" King Kai yelled. "Her family's alive, so they can't come to Other World, that girl she was with is hurt, and Goku's…"

"Gone," Baba finished his sentence.

"So you're saying that we should just watch as Sita kills her?" King Kai demanded angrily.

"I'm sorry, King Kai," Baba said somberly. "I don't want this to happen to Chi-Chi any more than you do, but there's nothing we can do."

King Kai gazed through the crystal ball helplessly. It had all been for nothing. Goku was gone Chi-Chi was surely next to go…

"I never should have let her go down there," he said sadly. "Goku would kill me for letting this happen to her…"

Chi-Chi rolled around on the floor in agony the blue and white flames danced all over her. Her head was spinning, and she screamed louder than she had ever done in her life. She could hear Sita's cold, cruel laughter, yet it sounded strangely distant, as though she was miles away…

_Let something happen, _she prayed. _Misai, please get up! I need you! Goku, come back! King Kai! Baba! Somebody --- anybody come! Please…let it end!_

But that was impossible. She was in Hell. King Kai and Baba couldn't help her. Even if they could open a portal and pull her out, Sita would destroy them in an instant. Misai was still lying unconscious in the wall, making no signs of recovering any time soon.

And Goku was gone.

A sense of defeat washed over Chi-Chi as the burning sensation reached a fever pitch. _It's over, _she thought dimly. _She's just too powerful. I never should have come here…_

Kami, what was I thinking? There was no way I had a chance to defeat her in the first place. I've as good as killed Goku, and now everyone else is going to die too!

Her surroundings swam in and out of focus. She turned her head ever so slightly to where Goku's body lay. He was going to be the last thing she ever saw…

_Snap out of it! _a voice in her head shouted. _You didn't give up when you couldn't find Goku at Grand Kai's planet! You didn't give up when you found out that he was in Hell! You didn't give up when you were thrown in Hell! You didn't even give up when you were fighting the ogres and the zombies! You've come too far to give up now!_

It's no use, she thought hopelessly. _She's going to kill me…_

_Listen to yourself! Do you think Goku would have given up so easily? And Misai…she'd been more than willing to go down fighting! You should have the same attitude!_

Think about Gohan, Goten, Videl, Pan, Uub, and everybody else! What will happen to them if Sita wins? She'll kill them! You're the only one who's left! You have to stop her!

How can I?she cried out silently._ She's a sorceress! If she defeated Goku, what can I do? I'm not strong enough!_

Don't you remember what your mother told you? You are strong! Goten and Gohan don't just get it from Goku, you know! So what if you're not a fighter? You've been dealt with being separated from your family countless times, and you're still standing!

Being tortured by an evil sorceress isn't exactly like losing my family! she retorted.

__

_Yes, it is! _the voice replied._ You lost Goku to that evil witch! He sacrificed the last of his spirit energy for you! Do you want him to have died in vain?_

Tears filled her eyes. Poor Goku… all she had ever wanted was to be with him. She never wanted to break his heart like this…

Why couldn't things have just stayed the way they were? They had been happy together. In spite of all the times she had gotten mad at him for leaving her, that remained true. Oh, if only he had known…

Chi-Chi's eyes widened as she remembered something: Goku loved her. Even when he thought that she hated him, when she had been so distant to him, and even after everything he had endured at Sita's hands, he still loved her. He told her so, right before he died…

__

That's it! the voice in her head urged her desperately. _Think about him! Remember all the lies that Sita planted in his mind! Remember how much he suffered! Let that be your strength!_

She remembered Goku lying beside her, badly beaten. Goku, apologizing for leaving her alone all those years… Goku, telling her that he loved her… Goku, telling her to escape and forget that she ever knew him… Goku, giving her the last of his spirit energy.**__**

The blue and white flames were still surrounding her, but she was no longer aware of the pain. Her hatred of Sita and her love for Goku increased, leaving no room for any more self-pity. She'd have to find a way; everything depended on it!

Forget that her family would hate her when they found out the part she played in Goku's demise --- she couldn't let them die. She _wouldn't_. Even if it cost her own existence, she had to stop her --- for Goku, Misai, and everyone else whose lives were ruined because of Sita…

She was suddenly filled with renewed determination. _I won't give up, _she thought fiercely. _Spell or no spell, I'm not going to just lie here and let Sita win!_ She struggled to move…

To her surprise, she was able to move her hands --- barely. Gritting her teeth with the effort, she attempted to sit up. It wasn't easy; it felt like heavy weights were attached to her body, keeping her body rooted to the ground.

_Remember what your mother said, _she forced herself to think. _Remember Goku --- what she did to him! She can't get away with it… I won't let her get away with it!_

She willed herself to press both hands on the ground, slowly raising her body off the floor. At last, feeling like she had strained her body, she was able to stand.

Sita stared at her, her eyes wide with disbelief. "What is this?" she shrieked. "That spell was supposed to keep you paralyzed! How did you were you able to break it?"

"I guess that… willpower is a lot stronger… than magic," Chi-Chi said with weak defiance.

Sita raised her staff. Instantly, the blue and white flames vanished, along with the paralyzing spell. Chi-Chi inwardly sighed with relief. Her body still ached, but at least she was able to move.

Sita forced a smile. "Don't think that that this changes anything. If you'd rather go standing, then be my guest!"

She pointed her staff at Chi-Chi again. The blue and white flames shot out of it again, but Chi-Chi was ready this time. She flung herself out of the way, just as the flames struck the spot where she had standing.

Ignoring the pain in her body, Chi-Chi ran around the chamber while Sita continued to shoot flames at her. The walls were scorched where the flames had tried to strike Chi-Chi.

"You honestly think that you can run forever?" Sita taunted as Chi-Chi narrowly dodged the blue and white flames. "Come now… I thought you said that I was going to be the one feeling pain!"

It was true; Chi-Chi's body was still sore. Her legs were starting to give out, but she kept running anyway. At least it would give her enough time to think of some sort of plan to attack her…

As she ran past one of the holes in the wall, a hand reached out and yanked her backward, just as more jets of blue and white flames headed towards her. They hit the wall inches away from the hole.

Chi-Chi whirled around to see who had saved her. It was Misai.

"Misai!" Chi-Chi gasped, relieved to see that she awake. "Are you all right?"

"Barely," Misai replied with a grimace. She had regained consciousness and was just emerging from the hole when Chi-Chi was trying to escape from the flames. She didn't look well though; her wounds were bleeding and there was a dark bruise on her forehead. She was leaning on her sword for support.

"We're not doing too well, are we?" Misai said with a grim laugh. "Well, I knew I wasn't going to make it through this…"

"I know," Chi-Chi said, speaking quietly so that Sita couldn't hear them, "but we have to stop her. She's going to kill my family after she kills us!"

"What are we going to do?" Misai muttered.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out!" Chi-Chi whispered desperately. "Listen, you know about Sita… does she have any sort of weaknesses? I mean, she can't be entirely invulnerable, can she?"

Misai shook her head. "She is invulnerable," she replied gravely. "She has been ever since she sold herself to get her powers…" She laughed bitterly. "This would be so much easier if she was just an ordinary person. Then we could beat her to a pulp."

These words suddenly gave Chi-Chi an idea. "The staff!" she exclaimed.

"What?" Misai asked bewilderedly.

"The staff!" Chi-Chi repeated. "The crystal that's on it glows just like she did whenever she preformed a spell. She used it to drain Goku's spirit energy from him… if we could somehow take it from her, she wouldn't be able to use some of her spells…"

Misai listened intently. "It's a long shot," she said slowly, "but I suppose desperate time call for desperate measures. I'll fight her while you try and take her staff."

"Are you sure?" Chi-Chi asked in concern. "You don't look like you're in much of a fighting condition."

"I'm in as good of condition as I can be," Misai replied, her face set. "Let's go!"

Together, the two raced out of the hole. Sita spotted them. "You again?" she asked Misai in an irritated tone. "You mortals don't know when to die…"

"I'm already dead," Misai retorted. She lifted up her sword, swaying slightly. "And guess what, bitch? You're about to find out what dying is really like!"

Misai charged towards Sita, swinging out her sword. Sita used her staff to block the blade. The crystal on her staff started to glow. Sparks of electricity shot out of the staff, shocking Misai's body. She collapsed. The smell of burning flesh was evident in the air.

Sita cackled. "And you call yourself a warrior! It's no wonder why Amar was able to overpower you so easily on your wedding night!" she added savagely.

Misai let out a snarl and jumped to her feet. In a fit of rage, he started to swing her sword from left to right, trying to strike as many parts of Sita's body as possible. Sita, however, kept blocking every blow.

While this was going on, Chi-Chi managed to sneak up behind Sita. She had to be careful since Sita and Misai were fighting at such a fast pace. She had to keep a good distance away from Sita, so that she wouldn't feel her if Misai kept forcing her backwards.

She watched them fight, trying to figure out when the best opportunity was to try to steal Sita's staff. If she attacked too soon, Sita would catch her and the whole plan would be ruined. Then again, there was no telling how long Misai would fare against Sita… if she waited too long, Sita would kill her!

"Give it up, girl," Sita sneered. "There's no way you can win. I can destroy you in an instant!"

"Funny, you don't seem to be trying," Misai shot back. "What's wrong, Sita? Did fighting the Princess just slow you down? Or maybe you didn't get as much of Goku's power as you thought!"

Sita's eyes flashed angrily. "Allow me to show you how much strength I've gained," she hissed. She carefully set the staff down. She stepped back, bringing her hands close together. A ball of energy started to grow in them.

__

Oh Kami, she's going to do the Kamehameha Attack! Chi-Chi thought, stricken. _I have to get that staff now!_

Quickly, she raced towards them, her arms outstretched, ready to grab the staff. Her fingertips had barely touched it when Sita suddenly turned around, diminished the Kamehameha Attack, and seized her by her throat.

"Stupid woman," she smirked. "I can sense ki! Your little distraction didn't have a chance." Her empty hand formed a fist, punching Misai in the face, sending her flying to the ground.

Chi-Chi struggled for breath. In a last ditch effort, she tried to bite Sita's hand. Sita only squeezed her throat tighter. She was going to strangle her…

"You've lost," she said wickedly. "In a few moments, I'm going to break out of Hell and pay a little visit to your family. I will make trophies of their rotting corpses. First, I'll kill your oldest, Gohan. Maybe if he had kept with his training instead of turning into such a weakling, he might have stood a chance against me. At one point, he was stronger than his father had been… but not anymore." She smiled wickedly. "I'll be sure to remind him of that before I kill him…

"Once I'm done with your family, I think I'll kill all your friends. Oh, they're going to _hate _you once they find out what happened to Goku. They always thought you were nothing but nagging, overprotective housewife. The only reason they put up with you was because you were Goku's wife, and they thought he must have seen _something _good in you.

"And as long as I'm killing Saiyans, I think I'll save that Saiyan Prince for last. If he was as good of a fighter as Goku, I'm in for a good time. Who knows? Maybe I'll play with him for a little while before I kill him…"

"Don't… you… ever… _stop_?" Chi-Chi rasped.

Sita shrugged. "You're right. I'm frankly quite tired of entertaining myself. I've got places to go and people to slaughter."

"I'd put her down if I were you."

Misai was back on her feet, grinning in vicious triumph. In her hands, she held Sita's staff. "Lose something, Sita?" she jeered.

Sita's pale, emotionless face contorted into fear. "Give that back!" she screamed.

"I don't think so," Misai replied smirking. "To think, after centuries of waiting for my revenge, I finally have it, here in the palm of my hand…"

Sita dropped Chi-Chi, who fell on all fours, coughing and gasping. Sita stretched out her free hand. The staff started to inch out of Misai's hands as though Sita were a magnet that was attracting it.

Misai, however, kept a tight hold on it. An expression of mock puzzlement crossed her face as she examined the staff. "Gee, I wonder what will happen if this breaks?"

"PUT THAT DOWN!" Sita shrieked, lunging towards Misai.

"You're a witch," Misai replied dryly. "Make me put it down." And with that, she raised the staff over her head, bringing it down to the ground with a crash. The crystal instantly shattered to pieces.

"_NOOOOOOOOOO!_" Sita screamed.

A blinded white light exploded through throughout the chamber, causing Chi-Chi and Misai to cover their eyes. Sita's rang out all around them. The ground began to shake violently, causing more debris to come crashing down all around them. Chi-Chi covered her head blindly, trying to avoid any of the falling objects.

When Chi-Chi opened her eyes, the light had faded yet the ground was still shaking. She saw Misai standing on the opposite side, the broken staff at her feet. Goku's body lay a few feet away.

"Where's Sita?" Chi-Chi asked Misai.

Misai shrugged. "I don't know." She bent down and picked up her sword. "Maybe that staff destroyed her powers…"

Before Chi-Chi could respond, she heard a weak, pathetic voice sound out from nearby: "Help me… help me…"

Chi-Chi's heart leapt. Was it Goku?

She glanced to where Goku was lying. He hadn't moved. No, this voice wasn't his; it didn't even sound familiar. It sounded screechy and old… She and Misai followed the voice to the other end of the chamber. When they saw whom it belonged to, Chi-Chi gasped and Misai swore under her breath.

Sita was lying on the ground, half of her body pinned by a few large boulders. Her features were no longer young and beautiful, but shriveled and haggard. Her hair had turned white. She was so ancient that she resembled a living corpse. If it hadn't been for the fact that she was wearing the same turquoise robes, Chi-Chi and Misai wouldn't have recognized her.

"Breaking the staff did this to her," Misai said in astonishment. "I can't stay that I'm surprised. She had been around for many years before she threw me into Hell, and she never seemed to age a day. I guess eternal youth and beauty was another benefit she received from the dark forces that granted her powers…"

Hearing their voices, Sita looked up at them. "Please…" she whispered, reaching weakly out towards them. "Help me…"

Her pleas enraged Chi-Chi. Help? After everything that she had done, she wanted _help_?

Misai glanced at Chi-Chi. Then, seemingly without any hesitation, she handed Chi-Chi her sword. "I think you have the right to do this more than I do," she said quietly.

With trembling hands, Chi-Chi raised the sword until it was directly above Sita's neck."

"No…" Sita rasped. "Please… have mercy…"

"_Mercy?_" Chi-Chi seethed. "What about Goku? Did you show him any mercy while you were torturing him?"

"Please…" Sita begged. "Free him, and I'll give you anything you want…"

"Anything I want?" Chi-Chi repeated coldly.

Sita nodded vigorously.

"I want my Goku back, you hag!" Chi-Chi snarled. "Can you bring him back?" There was a pause. "I didn't think so."

She brought down the sword, slicing Sita's head clean off her neck. Blinded by grief and rage, she continued to strike Sita's headless body, severing her arms and repeatedly stabbing her body until nothing remained except a bloody mass of withered flesh.

The ground started to shake more violently now. More pieces from the ceiling were crashing down from all directions. The blast from the light was causing the tower to collapse.

Chi-Chi instantly dropped her sword and started towards Goku's body, but Misai grabbed her arm. "We have to go!" she shouted. "This place is falling apart!"

"No!" Chi-Chi cried, struggling to reach Goku.

"What's the use of bringing the body?" Misai asked incredulously. "We have to leave him! I already told you that there's nothing we can do for him!"

"I don't care!" Chi-Chi sobbed, trying to wrench herself free. "I can't leave him!"

"Chi-Chi, it's too late!" Misai yelled urgently. "He's gone! I'm sorry, but we have to go or you'll be killed too!"

It was the first time she had ever called Chi-Chi by her name. For a moment, Chi-Chi stopped struggling to stare at her, stunned.

Misai seized this opportunity to start dragging her towards the door. "NO!" Chi-Chi screamed, though her efforts to escape were futile. "GOKU!"

__

It's no good, a voice in her head told her. _You can't just stay here with him. He wouldn't have wanted you to get yourself killed, would he?_

She tried to catch one last glimpse of Goku, yet Misai had already hauled her out the door, just as a huge boulder fell in front of the door, blocking any possible way of returning to the chamber.

The two hurried down the steps, debris from the ceiling above them caving in. Neither of them dared to look up for boulders; they just kept running down the staircase. They seemed to go on forever…

_We're not going to make it! _Chi-Chi kept thinking frantically.

At last, they reached the ground floor, the door to the outside of Hell clear in sight. The remains of the zombies they had fought earlier seemed to tremble as the floor shook. Chi-Chi saw that the torches were falling out their places in the walls, leaving flames of fire on the walls.

"This way!" Misai screamed, pulling Chi-Chi to the door. They ran around the fallen torches to avoid the fire. The entire ceiling was coming down behind them. They reached the door and raced outside just in time to see the tower collapsed.

Chi-Chi stared hard at the ruins of the tower. She had failed. Goku was gone. And he was never, ever coming back…

Overcome by grief, she let out a heartbroken, high-pitched cry and collapsed to the ground.

To be continued…

VidelChan313: Using your imagination is fun while reading a story. I do it when I'm actually writing it :) Yes, it would such to die twice.

Blo0d: I updated!

I won't tell: Sita's sons aren't in this story, but Sita was defeated. I'm not saying anything about Goku except that you'll find out very soon.

Misao: I consider this part the climax of the story, so it's nearing the end.

Woman of the Dunedain: Just wait until the next chapter…

Carrie2sky: Hellcat just sounded like a funny name to me. I bet you're glad that Sita's dead, but it doesn't look likely that Goku's coming back, does it? ::evil laughter::

Kakkabrat: She sure did!

Jessica C: Well, this chapter was probably better since Sita is finally dead, but there will be a little more angst in the next chapter.

Caryl Mc: You sound just like the narrator on DBZ, LOL! Never say things can't get any worse; you'll jinx it! LOL! Misai was hurt pretty badly, but she's all right. Sita is dead now, so everybody back on Earth is safe. As for Goku…

Shera Highwind: I'm glad that your theory exam went well. I think your question was answered in this chapter.

Tears of Sorrow: No, it wasn't an illusion… that would be a pretty cheap cop-out. I don't like seeing Goku and Chi-Chi suffer either --- especially Goku. ::Chi-Chi snorts from behind me:: I _don't_!

Arain Rowan: The good guys won, so don't worry. Wait until the next chapter before trying to kill the author, I guarantee that you'll thank me ;)

Lady Athena X: Misai's fine and Sita's dead. Yay! I agree with you on the Disney animated movies; there hasn't been a decent one since _Tarzan_… well, except for maybe _The Emperor's New Groove_. That was pretty funny :) I love _Shrek_; I saw _Shrek 2 _last weekend and I loved it! I really don't think that Shrek needed a sequel, but they were able to pull it off, making it just as good, if not better, than the first --- unlike the evil Disney direct-to-video sequels that seem to come out so much these days. It was fine when it was the _Aladdin _sequels, but now it's just gotten old. And they do it to movies that were out when my grandparents were my age, and were perfectly good on their own! ::deep breath:: Sorry, I had to get that off my chest.

Candy: Rather pessimistic, are you? Don't worry, Sita's gone now, and Chi-Chi and Misai are okay --- physically, at least. Emotionally, they might have to work on.

Lady Thundera: You like _Aladdin_? Sweet! I love the movie! ::high fives Lady T:: Actually, I think Sita reminds me of Iago from _Othello_ (no the bird, the man), because she's so crafty and subtle. Sita would have broken out using her magic, but it doesn't matter now, since she is dead. What did you think she would use? Never mind, I'm sure I don't want to know.


	12. Part Twelve

Part Twelve

If ever there had ever been hollow victory, this was it.

Chi-Chi had very few recollections of what had happened next; perhaps the shock and grief had been too fresh to make sense of anything that had gone on then. What she _did_ remember was that she had wept for quite some time in front of what remained of Sita's lair for a very long time.

She might have stayed longer if it wasn't for Misai. Misai was the one who was able to keep a level head by telling Chi-Chi that they had to leave. This time, Chi-Chi didn't even try to resist; she just followed her, unable to say or think anything between sobs.

Now, several miles from the ruins, they sat next to each other on the hard, rocky ground. Misai just sat there in silence. She kept shooting awkward glances at Chi-Chi, like she wanted to say something to comfort her, but apparently was unable to think of anything appropriate.

Tears were silently streaming down Chi-Chi's face as though a dam had broke free within her. She never felt so horrible. Sita was defeated, but Goku was gone forever.

It was always hard whenever Goku had died in the past. She had always gone on without him, one way or another. Her family had kept her going, along with the hope that he'd come back…

But her family wouldn't be with her for a very long time. And this time, she and Goku wouldn't meet again in death, because she was already dead. She was going to be without him for eternity.

And to think, almost a week ago, she had just arrived in Other World, happily anticipating her reunion with Goku. If only she had known…

__

And it's all because of me, she thought, an icy stab of guilt mingling with her sorrow. _I practically handed Goku over to that witch the moment I said that I hated him…Kami, why did I say such a horrible thing? What was I thinking?_

You didn't know what Sita was up to! a voice coming from a small portion of her mind that was still reasonable reminded her. _Nobody knew until you died and went looking for Goku. Besides, you were upset; you didn't mean it. You didn't even know that Goku was listening to you that day…_

But I wasn't upset enough to **hate **him! she cried out silently. _I never hated him! He'll never know that I didn't mean it!_

Misai finally broke the silence. "So… this is would be the fourth time you've lost him?"

Chi-Chi nodded. "It feels like the hundredth," she whispered tearfully.

"Must be hard," Misai said rather sympathetically.

Chi-Chi couldn't take keeping silent anymore. "I'm so tired of this, Misai!" she burst out. "I thought that once we both died, I wouldn't have to be separated from him anymore. I never knew that there was death after death… or about Sita ---" She buried her face in her hands. "Oh Kami, it's my fault!"

Misai shook her head. "Don't talk like that," she said quietly.

"It is my fault!" Chi-Chi sobbed. "Sita killed him because I said that I wanted him to go away and never come back!"

"That's not true," Misai said firmly. "You didn't outright ask Sita to kill him; she just used your emotions as a loophole in order to get him."

"It doesn't make a difference," Chi-Chi said miserably. "You saw what happened that day at my house! I hurt him so badly… and because of that, he believed all the lies that Sita told him! He really believed that I hated him!"

"Well, if you ask me, he needed a wake-up call," Misai replied tartly.

Her careless words caused Chi-Chi's grief to momentarily subside, replacing with a fury so powerful that she could scarcely speak.

"You ---" she started sputtering. "You --- you --- DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT HIM LIKE THAT!" she burst out. "YOU THINK I _WANTED_ TO HURT HIM, JUST BECAUSE HE HURT ME? I NEVER WANTED THAT! I ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT HE NEVER MEANT TO HURT ME!"

Misai was quite unabashed. "Ignorance isn't an excuse," she said coolly. "If getting his feelings hurt was the only way he could get it through his thick head how it hurt you that he kept leaving, then he deserved it."

"HE NEVER DESERVED THAT!" Chi-Chi shouted.

In that moment, she forgot that Misai grew up in a place were women were abused and that she had every reason not to trust men. She wasn't going to let her continue to criticize Goku --- not after what he had gone through and how he had died!

"Now you listen here!" she snarled, glaring at Misai. "I know what happened to you on Vishnu was horrible, and all I can say is that I'm sorry! I can understand why you think all men are horrible. But that doesn't give you the right to badmouth my husband! You didn't even _know _him!

"Yes, he _did_ hurt me, even if he didn't mean to! He wasn't perfect, but he would never, _ever _have done the things that Amar and your brother did to you! I loved him, and he loved me! I don't care whether you believe me or not, only if you think that his faults justify him being taken to Hell by that twisted hag ---"

"No!" Misai cut her off, suddenly looking horrified. "I --- I didn't mean it like that. I didn't mean that he deserved to go to _Hell_! I'd never say anything like that! I was just saying that he needed to realize what he was doing to you, that's all."

Chi-Chi stared at her, her anger towards her starting to fade. "You mean ---?" she faltered.

"I don't know," Misai muttered, seemingly knowing her question before she finished it. "I thought that all men were cruel animals. Now after everything I saw… what Sita did to him… him, giving up his spirit energy for you… and that look on his face… I don't know what to think anymore."

She bit her lip, as though what she was about to say was difficult for her to admit. "Except that… well, I still say that the men on Vishnu deserved to go to Hell. I'm still not sorry about what happened to Amar. But I don't think that Goku deserved to go to Hell --- not anymore." She paused. "I don't think he deserved anything that Sita did to him," she added quietly.

A lump arose in Chi-Chi's throat. New tears welled in her eyes.

Misai slowly inched closer to her, and put her arms around her in an awkward hug. "I --- I'm sorry," she said shakily. "I didn't mean to speak ill of the dead… I mean, not 'us dead,' but --- you know --- 'dead-dead.'"

They sat like that for a long time until Chi-Chi had stopped crying. "You know, you were right about one thing," Misai said after a while. "He _was_ brave."

Chi-Chi nodded numbly.

"I don't think any other man would have been able to stand up to her like that," Misai went on rather thoughtfully. "Especially if she was torturing him. And I hate to admit it, but without him, we never would have defeated Sita. If he hadn't given up his spirit energy…"

"It should have been me," Chi-Chi said in a hollow, deadened tone. "_I_ should have been the one to die, not him."

Misai sighed wearily. "Don't talk like that," she repeated.

"Why not?" Chi-Chi asked ruefully. "He never should have given me his spirit energy --- not after everything that happened! He should have just let Sita kill me!"

"Do you honestly think that would have made things better?" Misai asked sharply. "If Sita had killed you, would have been left to stop her?"

Chi-Chi blinked back her tears. That was a good question: what if Goku hadn't made his sacrifice? Chi-Chi wouldn't have been able to get up and fight again, for one thing. And Sita would have killed her and Misai for sure; they wouldn't have had time to come up with the plan of stealing Sita's staff… Sita certainly would have broken out of Hell and made good on her promise destroying her family…

And (although she hated to admit it) there wouldn't have been much that they could do for Goku. After all, he was in bad shape when they got there; he probably would have died anyway.

But still she shook her head. "He didn't deserve to die thinking all those horrible things…"

"Maybe not," Misai said softly. "But there isn't really anything you can do about it now, is there?"

Chi-Chi bit her lip, feeling another nasty pang of guilt. "No," she said quietly. "There isn't."

A sort of emptiness consumed her, making her feel like an old woman once again. To her, it was the worst feeling in the word; it was beyond grief and guilt. It was --- there was no other word for it --- _nothing_. It was like there was a giant void inside of her where Goku had once been, and would never be again.

"You know, it's funny," Misai mused after a while. "For centuries, I wanted to have my revenge on Sita, and now that she's finally gone… it doesn't really feel as good as I thought it would."

Chi-Chi looked up at her, perplexed. "What do you mean?"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that she's gone," Misai assured her. "Still… it doesn't erase the centuries I spent in Hell."

"Or undo what she did to Goku," Chi-Chi said sadly.

"So much for revenge," Misai said bitterly. "Even though that bitch is dead, in a way she still won."

Chi-Chi looked at the ground. "And after everything we went through," she said miserably.

"Well, we _did_ beat her," Misai said quickly, in an effort to cheer her up. "She can't hurt your family or anyone else. That's got to count for something, does it?"

"I guess so," Chi-Chi replied tonelessly. Then she suddenly gasped as something dawned on her. "Oh no --- my family! How am I going to tell them about Goku?"

She could just imagine what their reactions would be. She knew that it would be years before any of them would die and come to Other World, but she was aware of how time flew by in Other World. When they found out Goku's fate and the role she played in it, they would never forgive her. They would hate her, just as Sita had predicted…

Perhaps Misai could read the expression on Chi-Chi's face. "Just tell them the truth," she advised, although she looked uncertain. "They won't be mad at you if they knew what you had to go through to find him. Besides, from what I saw and heard in Sita's lair, you weren't the only one who was mad at him."

"But I was the only one who said that I hated him," Chi-Chi said in despair.

"Look, I don't know how they'll act towards you when they find out --- especially your sons," Misai said tiredly. "I could say that they won't hate you because you're their mother, but there were plenty of sons on Vishnu who treated their mothers terribly. However, if they were half the men you told me that they were, then they won't hold it against you."

Chi-Chi managed a watery smile, though Misai's words didn't boost her confidence too much. "Thanks."

Misai sighed. "I guess you'll be going back to the other side soon? I mean, now that it's over…"

"I think so," Chi-Chi replied, looking around. There were no signs of a portal opening anywhere. King Kai and Baba hadn't contacted her since they had arrived at Sita's lair, yet there was no doubt they had seen the battle. She wondered if they blamed her for what happened.

"I know this probably doesn't mean much, coming from me," Misai said apologetically, "but I'm sorry for your loss."

"No, it means a lot coming from you," Chi-Chi said softly.

"You might not want to hear this now," Misai continued cautiously, "only maybe… you'll find someone else on the other side…"

"And love him the same as I loved Goku?" she asked incredulously. "No. I love Goku. He's the only person I've ever wanted to be with. Even in death, there will never be anyone else for me."

"So you're just going to spend eternity alone?" Misai asked in surprise.

"Probably," Chi-Chi said bitterly.

Misai looked at her with a mixture of pity and admiration. "You're either the most devoted woman I've ever known, or the most foolish."

Just then, a tiny dot of light appeared above them. It steadily grew larger until it was a big, shining hole. It was the portal.

Chi-Chi let out a heavy breath. It truly was over. Not that she minded getting out of Hell, but the loss of Goku gave her escape little joy.

She turned to Misai, about to say good-bye, when she suddenly got an idea. "Hey Misai, why don't you come with me?" she suggested. "You could come to Grand Kai's planet with me. You can train to be a warrior, just like you always wanted!"

Misai stared at Chi-Chi for a long time. Then she replied, rather sadly, "No, I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?" Chi-Chi demanded. "You're not a bad person! You were only in Hell because Sita _sent_ you there. I'm sure King Yemma would…"

"It's not that I don't want to," Misai explained. "Believe me, there is nothing I'd want more than to get out of here. But once you're in Hell, it doesn't matter whether you've been good or bad. I'm stuck here," she summarized grimly.

"Oh." Chi-Chi's heart sank. She thought that the pain of losing Goku would have been slightly easier if she had someone to commiserate with. But there was nothing she could do to help the girl if what she said was true.

"Well… I guess this is good-bye, Princess," Misai said in a strained voice, looking very sad.

"Good-bye," Chi-Chi whispered. She hugged Misai tightly, feeling tears in her eyes all over again. Despite their differences, Misai was a good friend --- almost like a sister that Chi-Chi never had. And she was going to miss her terribly.

"I'd better get going," Misai muttered when they broke apart. "I've things to do, in case those ogres find me and throw me back in prison." She started to walk away, then stopped. "Hey, Princess?"

"What?" Chi-Chi asked, not bothering to tell her off for calling her "Princess."

"I'll think about what you said… about not all men being so bad."

Chi-Chi watched Misai go off into the distance until she could no longer see her. Then, with a heavy sigh, she leapt through the portal.

The next thing she knew, she landed hard on the path of Snake Way. The portal quickly closed from behind her. Slowly, she got to her feet.

King Kai and Baba stood in front of her, their faces drawn and sad. At the sight of them, the feeling of grief grew stronger than ever. She was unable to say anything to them; she just stood there, her arms hanging limply from her side, tears falling from her eyes onto the path.

King Kai approached her. "Chi-Chi, I'm --- I'm so sorry," he began gravely. "If there's anything I can do…"

Chi-Chi raised her hand to stop him. "You can't," she replied quietly.

"Don't blame yourself what happened," he told her gently. "It wasn't your fault. You did the best you could. If he'd known what you went through, and how you beat Sita..."

"I have to go," Chi-Chi said automatically. Deep down, she knew that King Kai was trying to help her, but she couldn't bear another minute of this. The sight of their faces and their meaningless words were more than she could stand.

"Where are you going to go?" Baba asked, concerned. "You ought to get those injuries looked at first…

"I will," Chi-Chi replied in a flat, empty voice. "I just… I just need to be alone for a while…"

Slowly, as though her feet were as heavy as lead, she turned and followed Snake Way in the direction of where it began. Dimly, she tried to figure out where to go. She couldn't back to Grand Kai's planet; training and sparring would remind her too much of Goku…

She remembered Goku's final request before he sacrificed himself: he wanted her to forget all about him so that she'd be happy.

_How would forgetting you make me happy, Goku? _she asked silently. _The only thing that kept me going aside from our family was the happy memories I have of you!_

The only thing she wanted to forget was the pain she caused him and the guilt that she reaped from it. Yet that, of course, was unlikely to happen.

She couldn't think about this now. For now, she just wanted to find a place to be alone. To rest and let go of the pain…

And maybe forget.

King Kai shook his head sadly long after Chi-Chi had left. "Poor Chi-Chi," he muttered.

He couldn't imagine what she was going through: to literally go through Hell and back, frantically searching for someone she loved… only to have him die, and worse --- having an indirect role in his death. He could only hope that wherever she was going, she'd be all right…

He wasn't feeling too good himself. Goku, his best student, was gone. He had spent his whole life saving people, and in the end, no one had saved him. That was a sad and twisted irony.

If only he had checked Earth more frequently… then he would have known that Sita killed Goku. Had he found out sooner, he could have told his family… Then again, that wouldn't have done much good either. Goku's family couldn't have helped him then because they were alive...

Baba finally broke the silence. "Isn't there something we can do to fix this?" she asked hopelessly. "What about the dragon balls?"

"No," King Kai replied gravely. "The dragon balls can bring a person back to life, but they can't bring a person back to the _dead_. Once a person is destroyed in Other World, their essence is gone forever."

"I just can't believe Goku's gone," Baba murmured. "I still remember the first time I met him, when he was a little boy…" Her voice broke. "Poor Goku…"

King Kai took a deep breath. "I'd better go contact Gohan and the others," he said heavily. "There's no reason why they shouldn't know about this until they're dead. The least I can do is explain it so that they won't blame Chi-Chi for what happened."

He leaned over the edge of Snake Way, trying to get a connection with Gohan, when Baba glanced at her crystal ball.

"Hold on!" she exclaimed. "Something's going on down there…"

"What do you mean?" King Kai asked, puzzled.

"It's that girl Chi-Chi was with," Baba clarified, peering into her ball. "She's heading back to where Sita's lair was!"

King Kai's confusion arose as he looked into the ball. It didn't make sense. Sita was dead…what was left for the girl at the ruins?

He wasn't sure, but something told him that maybe --- just maybe --- it wasn't over yet.

_Why am I doing this? _Misai wondered as she approached the piles of rocks and debris that had been Sita's tower only a little while ago.

She got the idea right before she and Chi-Chi parted, and wasn't sure why she was so set on doing it. After all, it wouldn't necessarily make things better for Chi-Chi or her family…

But something inside told her that it was the right thing to do. It wasn't right for a fallen warrior's grave to be the ruins of his prison; he deserved a proper burial. Of course, being buried in Hell wasn't much of an improvement. Still, it was better than nothing.

She briefly wondered whether she should have told Chi-Chi about her plans. No, it was better that she wasn't here. The poor woman had been through enough for one lifetime…

At last, Misai reached the ruins. Retrieving the body wouldn't be easy; she had no idea where it was. But her mind was made up. No matter how long it took, she owed it to Chi-Chi to find and bury her husband's body.

She walked to the middle of the ruins and started digging. It was hard work. The rocks were very heavy, but Misai was able to lift most of them without straining her limbs too badly. Despite her injuries, she still had some strength in her. Or perhaps it was her determination that gave her the strength…

After nearly a half-hour of digging, she uncovered a hand. Elated with her discovery, she cleared away as much of the rubble that surrounded it as she could. When that was done, she grabbed it and yanked hard, pulling out the broken body of Son Goku.

_That's funny, _Misai thought suspiciously, half-lifting him out of the rocks by his arms and setting it down on top of them. _He doesn't feel as cold as he did right after he died…_ She shook herself._ I must be imagining it. He's gone…how can he not be, with halo gone and him lying so still…_

She knelt down beside the body, feeling a twinge of pity for the dead man. He looked worse than he had looked when they found him. The old scars and his arms, chest, and face had reopened, no doubt caused by when the tower collapsed. At least his limbs were still intact --- aside from the arm that Sita had crippled.

__

Why should I feel sorry for him? Misai wondered, confused by her own emotions._ I didn't know him. I didn't even **like** him; after what Princess told me, I thought that he was just like the other men…_

__

But he gave his life for her. How many men would have done that for their wives?

__

Once, Misai had thought that her brother would have done the same thing for her. Yet he had been more than willing to have her killed as soon as he found out that she had been responsible for his best friend's death. Surely, when Sita told Goku that Chi-Chi had "asked" Sita to take him to Hell, he would have done the same thing in a heartbeat…

Only he didn't. He refused to believe it and was willing to sacrifice the little strength he had to help her, even after he came to believe that she had really hated him.

"Maybe I judged him too quickly," Misai thought aloud. "She said that when I met him, I'd change my mind about him..."

She stared at Goku's face. "Too bad we'll never know," she said sadly. "Perhaps I would have changed my mind… if you really were everything that she said you were."

She stood up. Now where to take the body? She couldn't drag it back down the mountain; it was too far. But she couldn't bury the body near here, the ground in Hell was rocky and unsuitable for digging a hole…

Just then, she heard a faint moan from behind her. She turned around, and let out a scream of terror.

The corpse was sitting up and stumbling to his feet! But how could it be? Misai quickly got a hold of herself. He must have been turned into a zombie somehow, just like Sita's other victims! That was the only reasonable explanation…

"Another zombie, eh?" Misai snarled, getting into a fighting stance. "Fine, I can handle one more!"

The man blinked. "Zombie?" he slurred, disoriented.

__

No, he can't be a zombie, Misai realized suddenly. _He wouldn't have become a zombie unless Sita used her magic to control his body. And Sita's dead…Besides, zombies don't have halos---_

_The halo! _Misai quickly looked up. The halo had returned, hovering over the man's head.

Impossible! It hadn't been there a few moments ago! She had watched him die with her own eyes! There was no way a person could come back after being destroyed in the afterlife! Yet here he was, standing before her…

"Oh my…" Misai gasped, backing away from Goku. "You've come back! But… _how?_"

To be continued…

A/N: He's baaa-aaack! ::starts a parade with the other reviewers:: Oh come on, you guys knew that I couldn't keep him dead! ::hugs Goku:: Don't worry, there's a reasonable explanation for how he came back, which will be explained in the next chapter.

Anyway, I decided to update early because I have finals this week. Friday is my last day of school. I'm going to be a senior next year! Yay! And now, to the reviews.

Lady Thundera: In your review, I meant to apologize if you thought that I _did _plagiarize. Sorry for the confusion, I have a nasty habit of apologizing unnecessarily. I agree, I'm getting sick of it too. Good point about the whole wedding night thing, by the way. I never thought of it that way. Still, didn't the fire destroy the Ox-King's castle when they had the wedding? Unless they waited until it was rebuilt to have the wedding… I don't know, I'll have to watch my DVD.

Sita and Jafar? No offense, but EW! LOL! Yes, Jafar is just as nasty as Sita, but the thought of him ending up with someone is just gross. I remember seeing _Aladdin_ (I must have been five then), and the part when Jasmine had to ::gag:: kiss Jafar in order to buy Aladdin time to steal the lamp. My reaction was similar to the ones of Iago, Abu, and Aladdin --- "Yuck!" Of course, that may have been do to the fact that this was back when I thought kissing, even in cartoons, was gross, but still, poor Jasmine. But yeah, I see what you're going at. Jafar can be as manipulative as Sita, like the sequel, "Return of Jafar" when he kidnapped the Sultan and framed Aladdin for the murder, and to put icing to the cake, he turned himself into Jasmine, accusing him of killing her father. I almost thought that it was really Jasmine until he changed back into his normal form… Whoa, it just occurred to me that that part is similar to when Sita changed into Chi-Chi to make Goku miserable. Weird!

Candy: I hope you found something positive in this chapter!

Angel of Light: See A/N above. Chi-Chi's one of my favorites too.

Reeves: Thank you!

SSJ Chika: It's all right. I've been having Internet problems too.

Misao: School is almost over for me too. I loved _Shrek 2_, especially Puss in Boots. My favorite part was the "Cops" spoof --- "Look what I found! Catnip!" "Um… that is not mine."

Blo0d: Yes, Sita's dead! Let's celebrate!

Z-man: I updated!

Caryl Mc: YES! I was hoping that someone would start singing "Ding Dong the Witch is dead!" Ten points to you, Carrie2sky, and Sara for singing it! :) Yes, Chi-Chi's feeling really bad right now, but little does she know, things are looking up! Too handsome to die? LOL! Personally, I agree, but I wouldn't make comments like that around Chi-Chi if I were you… Yes, things are going to get better.

KC: Thank you!

Lady Athena X: Thanks for your support, I really appreciate it. I've seen those Disney direct-to-video sequels on the Disney Channel, and you're absolutely right: it _is _cliched. No, Goku's not gone. You'll find out what's going to happen to Misai in the next chapter. You added me to your favorites? Wow, thank you! :)

Jessica C: More angst in this chapter, but I guarantee there will be happier moments in the remaining chapters.

Kinosei: Thanks for your support about that review I got. No, Goku isn't a hemophiliac, LOL! Valid points, but it's only a story, so I guess you can get away with things like that. Well, it's not over yet… I'm kind of afraid of your reaction about Goku coming back after reading your review, but there is a reason for it. I'm not sure if you'll find it believable, but I had this planned out for a while… Don't worry, your last review wasn't offensive, it was constructive criticism, and I appreciate that. I'm glad that you think that Goku and Chi-Chi are in character.

Clarobell: He's back, thank goodness!

Carrie2sky: Good job for singing my favorite _Wizard of Oz_ song and catching the _Princess Bride_ inspiration! That was my favorite line in the whole movie! Yes, there is still hope for Goku and Chi-Chi. Chi-Chi just doesn't know it yet.

Kakkabrat: Goku's back, and you'll find out why in the next part.

Mujitsu: My Internet problem is gone, thank goodness. You're right, Goku can never stay dead for too long. He's like the phoenix… always rising from the ashes.

I won't tell: Oh lord, I never noticed that Amar was Rama spelled backwards! Amar was just the first name that popped into my head when I was writing about Misai's past, oddly enough. Good job spotting that!

Sara: Ten points for singing "Ding dong the witch is dead!" God, I love that song! Hmmm… would Goku have shown Sita mercy, if given the chance to kill her? Good question.

Shera Highwind: It seems likely now, doesn't it?

VidelChan313: So far, it looks like prediction A was right, but you'll have to wait to find out for sure.

Kai: No, it wasn't all for nothing, although Chi-Chi still thinks it was at the moment.


	13. Part Thirteen

Author's Note: Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been really busy with these summer classes I've been taking. Hope this chapter is worth the wait!

Part Thirteen

__

Darkness surrounded him everywhere. He didn't know where he was, how he got there, or even who he was for that matter. Wherever he was, memory didn't exist. All he knew was that he was floating in the endless darkness…

Ah, it was bliss. Here there was no pain, no doubt, no fear…he felt nothing. And yet that troubled him. He had the feeling that he was supposed to be remembering something --- something important. But what was it?

Just then, a bright light appeared before him. He could make out several obscured figures within. He moved closer. The light dimmed down and he could see clearer.

He was standing in a room that looked familiar, only he couldn't remember when he had been there before. A group of people were gathered there: a man and a woman hugging a small girl, a teenaged boy staring hard at the wall; a man with black hair that stuck straight up, and a sorrowful looking, middle-aged woman who stood alone, tears falling from her eyes.

Something terrible must have happened; they all looked so sad. The little girl was crying. Tears were falling from the eyes of the middle-aged woman. The others had the same grave look on their faces. Their grief seemed radiate from the room, affecting him as well…

What was wrong? Did someone die, perhaps someone important to them? How could he feel their pain?

He was confused. Did he know these people? He couldn't have…but then why did they look so familiar? Why did he care that they were hurting?

The middle-aged woman looked up. Although she could not see him, she seemed to look right in his eyes…

Suddenly, the room and the people vanished. He found himself inside a bedroom. The woman he had seen earlier was there, sitting by the window. Many years seemed to have passed; her hair had grayed and her face was wrinkled.

The strange feeling of familiarity grew stronger. Maybe he had known this woman…

The old woman didn't sense him there. She just sat there, looking out the window. Her face was calm, yet her eyes were full of longing. It was almost as though she was waiting for something --- or rather, **someone**.

The scene changed once again. This time, he was in a remote, forested area of some sort. He saw a young, dark-haired woman walking around nearby. Her head was bowed down, so that her hair covered her face.

He felt the same, odd connection he felt with the other people he had seen. Did he know this woman too?

The woman raised her head ever so slightly. Her eyes were shiny with tears…With a thrill of shock, he realized that she was the same woman from before, only younger.

She walked towards a large tree that stood not too far away. She climbed it, sat on a thick, sturdy branch, and buried her face in her arms. Her shoulders were shaking, giving the impression that she was crying.

Images of the stricken faces of the people he'd seen before appeared before him, one by one…ending with the dark-haired woman.

**Come back, **she seemed to be pleading. **Please come back…**

And all at once, he remembered her --- he remembered all of them. They were his family.

Everything faded into darkness. The last thing he was aware of was that he seemed to be falling backwards.

Consciousness returned to him very suddenly, as though he had just awakened from a nightmare. The pain was the first thing he was aware of --- pain that coursed sharply through almost his entire body. It was so intense that he nearly passed out again…

He forced his eyes open. He was lying on a pile of rocks. Someone was standing nearby with his or her back towards him. Was it Sita?

Goku squinted. No, it didn't look like her; she appeared to be a young girl. Judging from her torn clothes and numerous cuts on her face and arms, she must have been through a war…

Slowly, he rose painfully to his feet. The girl, hearing him moan, turned around. She let out a high-pitched scream, looking as though she had just seen a ghost. Her fearful expression instantly changed into one of defiance.

"Another zombie, eh?" she snarled, positioning herself into a fighting stance. "Fine, I can handle one more!"

Goku blinked in confusion. What was she talking about? "Zombie?" he managed to croak out.

The girl stared at him, relaxing slightly. She looked up, fixing her gaze on something over his head. She went pale in shock. "Oh my…" she gasped, backing away from him. "You've come back! But…_how?_"

"What… are you… talking about?" Goku asked through gritting teeth. The pain was worsening by the minute. He clutched his broken arm, swaying slightly.

The girl seemed to get a hold of herself. Cautiously approaching him, she tore off the bottom of her ragged, dirty pants and starting wrapping the fabric around his wounds.

"I can't believe it," she muttered, shaking her head. "We saw you… you were dead! How is this possible?"

"I'm… still… dead," Goku managed to state, pointing feebly above his head, where his halo was.

"Not _that_ kind of dead," the girl said impatiently. "Sita stole your spirit energy! You didn't exist in the afterlife anymore… how could anyone come back from that?"

Goku was about to ask her how she knew all this, yet at the mention of Sita, he looked around wildly. Where was Sita? The last thing he remembered was that he had been in Sita's tower, and now he was in a pile of rubble. How had he gotten here?

"Where ---?" he started to whisper, but the girl quickly silenced him.

"Don't worry," she said rather gently. "Sita's dead."

Goku let out a slow, hissing breath of relief. Sita was gone. After so long, it was finally over…

Still, it wasn't time to celebrate yet. Twenty-five years of emotional and physical torture and having his spirit energy stolen had taken its toll on Goku; he was very weak. From what he could understand from that girl, he had almost died in the afterlife… and whatever lucky break he'd been given didn't feel like he'd last much longer…

"C'mon!" the girl urged, supporting him by gripping his good arm. "We have to get you help." She cursed under her breath. "If only that portal was still here…"

_"Goku! Goku, can you hear me?"_

It was King Kai! Goku's eyes widened, elated to hear a familiar voice. Since he was no longer able to talk aloud, so he communicated to him mentally. _"Yeah, I can hear you, King Kai."_

"Goku! I can't believe it!" King Kai was exclaiming happily._ "We thought you were gone for good! I was just about to tell your family when we saw you that you were alive --- well, sort of."_

"What are you talking about?" Goku asked, puzzled.

"Baba and I were watching through her crystal ball," King Kai explained, _"but I'll tell you more about that later; right now, we've got to get you out of here. Baba's going to open the portal…"_

"No…I think I can use Instant Transmission…"

"Are you sure? It looks like you can barely stand!"

This was true, but Goku didn't care. He searched for King Kai's ki on the other side of Other World, and sure enough, he could sense it. _"I…I think so."_

"Well…okay," King Kai said slowly, although he sounded skeptical. _"Just get out of here now, and bring Misai with you!"_

"Misai?" Goku repeated aloud. She looked at the girl. "That's your name?" he inquired.

The girl stared at him, surprised. "How did you know?" she demanded.

"Never mind," he said in as strong a voice he could muster. "Just hang on, all right?" He placed two fingers to his forehead, concentrated on King Kai's ki, and the two of them vanished.

The next thing Goku knew, they were standing on Snake Way. His vision suddenly went foggy. He breathed heavily, his knees buckling, trying not to pass out.

__

Should have known, he thought weakly. _Using Instant Transmission used up all the energy I got back. _Through his hazy vision, he was able to make out the blurred figures King Kai and Baba hurrying towards them.

Misai let go of Goku's arm, taking in her new surroundings. If possible, she looked even more stunned than she had looked when she discovered Goku. "Oh my," she said in a high voice, looking from the pink sky above them to yellow path below them. "Oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my…"

Finally, she turned to Goku, her face stark white. "Where are we?" she whispered hoarsely.

But Goku wasn't able to answer her. Overwhelmed by pain and fatigue, he collapsed.

Goku awoke to find himself lying in an unfamiliar room. He sat up gingerly, glancing at his right arm. Amazingly, it had been healed. Looking down at himself, he found that all his cuts and burns had vanished. Not even a scar remained.

Slowly, he got out of bed, walked up to the window, and looked outside. He could see numerous figures on the grounds, sparring with each other. He recognized one of them as Pikkon.

He was back on Grand Kai's Planet --- inside Grand Kai's house, to be exact. Under normal circumstances, he would have been glad to be back on the planet where he had spent seven years. It was a good place to train, and there were lots of friends he had here --- not to mention the opportunity to get a lesson from Grand Kai about every thousand years…

But for some reason, he only felt sad to see it. Of course, he was grateful to be out of Hell, but the memory of his imprisonment would always remain.

It was strange. In the past, Goku was able to bounce back from anything. Even when his rage over Krillin's death at the hands of Frieza caused him to turn Super Saiyan for the first time, he eventually learned to harness the power without losing control…

But Sita had been different. True, she wasn't the most powerful villain he'd ever fought; she had used her spells to keep him subdued. But she had done what all the others he had fought had failed to do:

She had broken him.

It wasn't the physical torture or the draining spell she'd used that did it, agonizing as it was. A true enemy is someone who knows you, knows your vulnerabilities, and exposes them in the cruelest way imaginable.

In his case, his vulnerability had been his love for his family, and the painful knowledge that they hated him for leaving them…

For the millionth time, Chi-Chi's words echoed in his mind, piercing his heart like a sharp knife: _"I hate him! I hate that he always leaves whenever he wants! It would be easier for everybody if he never came back!"_

Who knew that three little words could hurt him so?

At first, Goku had thought that maybe he could fix things. But when he returned four weeks later, it was clear that the damage was done. Chi-Chi acted like nothing was wrong; she didn't start berating him for leaving…

But things were never the same between the two of them. She hardly spoke to him anymore. He understood why she slept on the opposite side of the bed, although it meant many lonely nights for me. She even didn't kiss him or hug him like she used to, and this hurt most of all.

He kept coming back about once every month with the optimistic hope that they'd be able to work it out, only to have those hopes dashed. It was clear that she no longer loved him.

He'd been so naïve. What had he been expecting? That she would just forgive him and act as though nothing had changed?

He knew that he deserved it. He didn't want to leave --- he just wanted to make sure that there would be someone to look out for the earth, since Gohan, Goten, and Trunks didn't want to fight anymore.

But he still left without a single thought of how his departure would affect his family; he just assumed that they would understand. Well, maybe Goten and Pan did, since they were only ones who would even talk to him whenever he visited them. All the same, he couldn't help wishing that he had done things differently.

__

I wonder how they're doing now, Goku thought, looking wistfully out the window. _It's been twenty-five years…Pan's probably grown up by now._

For a moment, he wondered if Chi-Chi had found someone else after he died. His heart twisted at the thought, but perhaps it was for the best. She deserved to be with someone who made her happy, not someone who kept leaving her.

All of a sudden, a strange memory occurred in his mind. Sita's chamber. Sounds of fighting all around him. And lying injured right beside him was ---

Goku shook his head. _It couldn't have been her, _he told himself firmly. _Why would **she** be in Hell? I must have been hallucinating…_

He tore himself away from the window and started towards the door. He had to see King Kai and find out what was going on.

However, before he had the chance, the door opened and Misai entered.She seemed to be in a better condition then when Goku had first seen her. She had apparently had her injuries healed as well, save for the scars above her eye and her cheek. She also looked as though she had had her first bath in years. She was dressed in a blue training outfit and her hair up in a ponytail, that oddly reminded him of Chi-Chi when she had been her age…

Goku's heart sank at that thought. Just thinking about Chi-Chi was painful.

"Um… hi," Misai said awkwardly.

"Hi," Goku said.

Now that they were no longer in Hell, Goku was able to take a good look at the girl. Her tone had been friendly, and yet there was a faint look of distrust in her eyes. She stood so stiffly, like she was in a room with a ferocious lion instead of with a man.

She stared at Goku, her hard gaze penetrating him. "So you're the man I've heard so much about," she mused. "Son Goku…"

Goku blinked. "How did you know?"

"You've sent a lot of your enemies to Hell," Misai replied sardonically. "I was locked up in the same place they were. They curse you all the time down there; I practically know their rants by heart."

Goku pictured Frieza, Cell, and everyone else he fought all locked up together in Hell, and couldn't help but laugh. It was the first time he'd laughed in twenty-five years… and as brief as, it was refreshing.

"From I've heard, you're a great warrior," Misai continued, her smile widening. "You had to have been to fight all of them: Raddiz, Frieza, Cell, and Majin Buu…"

"I didn't really defeat some of them," Goku admitted. "My friend, Piccolo, killed Raddiz --- I was just the one that held him so he couldn't escape. A boy named Trunks killed Frieza and his father. And my oldest son ---"

He trailed off. Thinking about Gohan was painful too.

Misai raised her eyebrows. "Well, at least you're modest," she said, looking impressed. "I wasn't expecting that. All of the warriors on Vishnu --- that's the planet where I'm from, by the way --- were so arrogant that it was impossible to believe that they actually cared enough to save others."

Goku sat down on the bed. "Do you want to sit down?" he offered.

Misai's smile immediately vanished, replaced with a suspicious --- almost fearful --- expression. "You mean… on the bed?" she asked faintly.

"Uh… yeah," Goku replied, bewildered at her reaction, "unless you want to sit on the floor?"

Misai stood there for a moment. Then she reluctantly she sat down. She was careful to place as much distance between the two of them as possible.

Goku scratched the back of his head. _Why is she acting so weird? _he wondered. _It's not like I'm gonna hurt her…_

"You've been out for quite a while," Misai commented. "Your friends contacted some guy named Kabito-Kai. He teleported over here and healed us, but I guess you needed some rest after everything you've been through."

Goku was surprised; he hadn't seen Kabito-Kai since the fight with Majin Buu. "I'll have to thank him the next time I see him," he remarked. He paused. "So why were you in Hell, anyway?"

Misai blinked. "I thought you'd guess that I was a bad person. I mean, why else would I be in Hell?"

Goku shook his head. "I don't think you're a person. If you were, King Kai would have never told me to bring you here."

"You --- You believe that?" she asked incredulously.

He nodded.

"I don't believe this… back on Vishnu, men wouldn't have trusted women if their lives depended on it!"

Goku frowned. "That's ridiculous!"

"You think so?" Misai asked lightly. "Then again, I've heard you have a habit of trusting everybody."

He shrugged. "Unless they give me a reason not to."

She bit her lip. "It was because of Sita," she said quietly. "I made the mistake of trusting her. I asked her to help me escape from Vishnu, and she sent me to Hell." She laughed sardonically. "Never trust a witch."

"Was Vishnu really that bad?" Goku asked.

"Oh, I don't know," Misai replied, looking at the floor. "Hell was much worse, though at least I got to fight in there. On Vishnu, all women could do was be wives and mothers."

"Well, what did _you_ want to do?" he inquired.

She hesitated. "You'll think it's stupid."

"Why?"

"Because you're a man."

Goku couldn't see what the big deal was. "So?"

"The men on Vishnu thought it was unheard of."

"I'm not from Vishnu," he told her flatly. "C'mon, tell me!"

"I… I wanted to be a warrior."

"A warrior?" Goku was interested. "That's not stupid at all. I knew a lot of women who were fighters. How come they didn't let women fight on Vishnu?"

"According to tradition, all we were good for was cooking, cleaning, and bearing children," Misai said resentfully. "And if we didn't do what we were told --- well, let me put it to you this way…" She pointed to the scar on above her eye. "This is what I got on my wedding night."

Goku stared her, horrified at what he was hearing. "Oh Kami!"

"It's not the worst thing that happened to me," Misai said grimly.

"They had no right to do that!" he said fiercely. "Nobody does!"

"You're the first man I've met who thinks that way," she said bitterly.

Goku opened his mouth to say more, but low, growling sound cut him off. He looked down at his stomach, thinking that it had made. A person could exist without food in the afterlife; otherwise, he would have died of starvation in Hell. Still, this was the longest he had ever gone without something to eat…

Then he looked at Misai, who was also rubbing her stomach. He noticed, with some concern, how thin she was.

"You hungry?"

"Oh… wow!" Misai exclaimed as she devoured her fourth helping of rice.

She and Goku were in Grand Kai's dining room. They sat at a long, rectangular table that was covered with dozens of plates of delicious food. Needless to say, it hadn't taken long for Goku or Misai to start digging in.

"I have never eaten this much in my life!" she exclaimed. "Or in my _afterlife_ for that matter! In Hell, all I ever got was bread and water! I mean, I didn't starve or anything, but still… oh, this is great!"

"Food is good," Goku agreed with a grin. "Hey, take it easy," he added as she ate even more rapidly, "you'll make yourself sick."

"You should talk," Misai retorted. "You've gone through seven plates already!"

"I'm a Saiyan; I always eat this much," he explained.

"So I've heard," she said wryly. She looked down at her empty bowl, her expression thoughtful. "By way… I almost forgot to thank you."

"For what?" he asked.

"For getting me out of Hell," she said softly. "I really thought that I was stuck there for good."

"Hey, it's no problem," he said good-naturedly. "Are you going to stay on Grand Kai's planet, then?"

"It looks like it. Fortuneteller Baba took me to King Yemma while you were out. I wasn't judged when I died because Sita threw me in Hell. I don't know if I've been a really good person, since I never saved the word or anything like that, but he let me keep my body. And because I helped get rid of Sita, he said that I could stay here if I wanted to."

"What are doing at Sita's tower, anyway?" Goku asked curiously, voicing something he'd been wondering about for quite some time.

"Actually, I was looking for you," Misai replied. "Or rather, I was helping someone look for you."

"Me?" Goku repeated, surprised. "Who'd be looking for me?"

"Does the name, Chi-Chi, ring a bell?" Misai asked slyly.

Goku felt as though he'd been struck by a lightening bolt. "_Chi-Chi?_" he yelped, unable to believe his ears. "My wife? _She _was looking for me?"

"Yep," Misai nodded.

"_She_ was in _Hell_?" he cried in alarm. "Why? She never did anything bad!"

"No, she didn't do anything bad," she assured him. "She was looking for you ever since she came to Other World. And the second she found out that Sita took you, she made Baba open a portal to Hell so that she could find you.

"Unfortunately, the ogres caught her and locked her up in the prison. That's where I met her…"

And so Misai told him the whole story. She told him how she and Chi-Chi escaped from the prison. How Chi-Chi kept worrying about what was happening to him in Hell. How they came to Sita's chamber and found Goku, moments away from fading into nonexistence. How Sita revealed that she had used Chi-Chi's words to kill Goku in the first place, and the battle that ensued…

"Wait!" Goku exclaimed, interrupting Misai. "I… I think I saw the two of you back there! Chi-Chi was lying next to me… and she was hurt…"

"You remember what happened next?" Misai asked, frowning.

He screwed his face up, attempting to remember. "I don't know… it's kind of hazy…"

"Well, considering the condition you were in, I'm not surprised," she replied matter-of-factly. "You were probably delirious."

"Then what did happen?" Goku wanted to know.

"Chi-Chi was hurt really badly, and I was fighting Sita --- and losing," Misai explained, her face grim. "I think Sita would have won right then and there if you hadn't come along. Apparently, you woke up long to give Chi-Chi your last bit of spirit energy… and then you died." She paused. "I still can't believe you did that," she said in a quiet, awed voice.

Hearing this, despite not remembering it, didn't really surprise Goku. "Why is it hard to believe?" he asked naively. "If Chi-Chi was in trouble, I would have given my spirit energy to her."

"Even at the cost of your own life?"

"What else was I supposed to do, let her die?" He shook his head vehemently. "Never. If --- If anything happened to her that I could prevented from happening… I'd never forgive myself."

Misai just stared at him, like she was really seeing him for the first time "You really do love her, don't you?" she asked in a rather strained voice.

Goku nodded absentmindedly. Words simply failed him. All this time, he thought that she hated him, yet she risked everything, for him. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't notice that Misai had turned away from him, hurriedly wiping her eyes.

"There's nothing much to say after that," she said after a while. "We guessed that the source of Sita's powers was her staff, so I managed to take it and break it while Chi-Chi distracted her. It destroyed her powers, turning her into an old hag. Chi-Chi cut off her head.

"We got out right before the place collapsed. Then Chi-Chi went back to Other World. I thought I ought to go back, dig you out, and give you a proper burial… and here we are," she concluded.

"Wow," was all Goku could say.

"Now, if you'll pardon my language, you need to get off your ass and find her," Misai said matter-of-factly. "She was really upset the last time I saw her; she kept blaming herself for what happened to you."

Goku frowned. He didn't want Chi-Chi to be upset over him… Part of him was overjoyed to know that she still cared, and yet part of him still wondered whether he deserved her love.

"I just don't understand," he said slowly. "All this time I thought she hated me, and to be honest, I wouldn't have blamed her. Why would she risk everything for me, after everything I put her through?"

"Because she loves you!" Misai said exasperatedly. "She told me that she knows why you left, and she's not mad at you anymore! But I shouldn't be telling you this --- you need to talk it out with her."

He nodded. "I know."

"Besides," she added with a small smile, "if she was willing to go to Hell and fight a powerful witch just to be with you, you had to have done _something_ right."

Goku smiled, feeling happier than he'd felt in years. Chi-Chi still loved him! Hope arose within him. Perhaps there was a chance to fix things after all!

"Oh, go find her already," Misai said impatiently, rolling her eyes. "She's probably crying her eyes out somewhere."

"Right," Goku replied, dazed. "Can't have that."

"Hey, Goku!"

Goku and Misai turned around to see King Kai entering the room. "I thought this was the first place I'd find you. How are you feeling?"

"I'm all right," Goku said cheerfully. "Listen --- can you tell me where Chi-Chi is? I really need to see her."

"I haven't seen her since she got out of Hell," King Kai said apologetically. "She's probably on the good planet; it's the only other place she could be. I wanted to contact her when Kabito-Kai healed you, but a certain someone ---" he shot a dirty look at Misai --- "convinced us not to until after you came around."

"Hey, I thought you ought to know the truth before you saw her again, so that you wouldn't start yelling at her for supposedly betraying you to Sita," Misai said defensively.

"I wouldn't have done that!" Goku said indignantly. "I didn't even believe that Chi-Chi would have gone to her on purpose."

"I miracle you're even here!" King Kai told him, shaking his head. "How did you come back?"

"You know, I've been wondering that myself," Misai said, folding her arms. "At first I thought all the spirit energy Sita took came back to you when her staff broke… but you were still dead when I found you."

"That could have been it," Goku said thoughtfully, "but I don't think I had the will to exist anymore, because of Sita. I didn't want to come back… not yet…

"I think maybe it had something to do with this dream I had… I think I had it when I died in Sita's tower… It kind of reminded me of the one I had when I fought Frieza on Namek…"

"What do you mean?" Misai inquired.

"Well, Frieza died to drown me and it almost worked," Goku explained. "Except I had a vision of what would happen to my friends and family if Frieza won, so I forced myself to survive.

"Maybe I didn't want to come back this time… after all, I thought that my family hated me. I think someone --- or something --- was telling me I was still needed, because I saw my family. They were all upset about something, only I didn't know what it was… then I think I saw Chi-Chi in Other World, because she looked younger than the last time I saw her alive… and she was crying…

He struggled to find the words. "It was almost like… they were calling me back."

"So that, along with your spirit energy that was released when Sita died, helped bring you back," Misai figured out. "Weird…"

"Well, I'll see you in a while, guys," Goku said brightly. He got up and started to leave. "I'm going to find Chi-Chi and bring her back here…"

"Bring her here?" King Kai repeated, frowning.

"Of course I want to bring her here!" Goku replied simply. "I want to stay with her from now on."

King Kai suddenly looked nervous. "Oh --- well --- I'm afraid that's not simple," he said awkwardly.

Goku stopped in front of the doorway. He turned around. "Why not?" he asked, worried.

"Chi-Chi can't stay here, Goku."

"WHAT?" Goku and Misai both shouted at the same time.

"Why not?" Misai demanded angrily.

"The Grand Kai's planet is reserved for fighters," King Kai informed them wearily. "Chi-Chi wasn't a fighter in her life, so she can't stay here."

"Aw, come on, King Kai!" Goku protested. "Chi-Chi used to be a fighter before we got married? Doesn't that count?"

King Kai shook his head. "Not according to Grand Kai."

"That's not fair!" Misai exploded. Her eyes were ablaze with fury. "King Yemma said that I could stay here, and I wasn't a fighter in life! I wasn't even the one who killed Sita --- Chi-Chi did!"

"I know that, but Grand Kai said that you could stay because you were still training before you died," King Kai explained. "I tried to get him to make an exception for the rules, but Grand Kai wouldn't budge."

"I don't believe this!" Misai snarled. "Just who does that bastard think he is?"

"Misai, you can't insult the Grand Kai!" King Kai hissed. "If he hears you, he'll throw you off this planet!"

"I don't care if he's the Grand Kai or not!" Misai fumed. "Doesn't he know what Chi-Chi went through? The two of us had to fight ogres, zombies, and a powerful, bloodthirsty witch to save her husband, and now you're telling us that she can't even be with him?"

"I know, I know," King Kai said sadly. "It isn't fair, but he said that she could visit you whenever she wants."

"But I don't want to just _visit_ her!" Goku said pleadingly. "I want to be with her! Can't he just make an exception?"

"I'm sorry," King Kai said, and he truly looked it. "I did everything I could, but I couldn't change Grand Kai's mind."

Goku just stood there, stunned. He was all set to see Chi-Chi again, and then this happens. _What am I going to do? _he wondered. _No…that's a silly think to ask. I **know **what I'm gonna do…and this time, I know I'm doing the right thing…_

"I don't believe this," Misai muttered in disappointment. "She doesn't deserve to spend eternity alone!"

"No, she doesn't," Goku said fiercely. "And she won't be alone --- not if I have anything to do with it."

King Kai and Misai stared at him dubiously. "What are you talking about?" King Kai asked.

Goku didn't even hear him. "I've have to go," he muttered. "I'll see you later." And with that, he raced out the room.

To be continued…

A/N: Sorry to keep you guys in suspense, but this is the last cliffhanger, I promise. I had to rewrite it a couple of times. Anyway, I didn't have to reply to reviews this time because I've been so busy. Maybe I'll do it next time. Stay tuned for the conclusion!


	14. Part Fourteen

Part Fourteen

The good planet looked just as beautiful as it had the last time Chi-Chi had seen it. The weather was perfect; it didn't seem to be as cool as spring nor as hot as somewhere, but somewhere in between. After being in Hell for so long, she should have been glad to be back --- yet whether she was in Heaven or Hell didn't matter to her anymore.

Chi-Chi had been on the planet for what seemed like several days. She hadn't bothered to try and find her mother again. She couldn't bring herself to tell her that she had failed. Instead, she retreated to a deserted, forested area on the planet, where she could be alone.

She was sitting on a thick branch of a tall tree, her knees drawn up to her chin. She had been in this position ever since she came here. It was odd --- she hadn't climbed a tree since she was a little girl… that seemed to have been a million years ago now.

Chi-Chi rubbed her eyes, which were red from crying. She had done a fair share of crying ever since she'd left Hell. She had known from experience what a broken heart felt like, and yet it hadn't prepared her for the whirlpool of grief, guilt, and gloom she was sinking into.

She felt so tired --- both emotionally and physically. All of the strength and energy she'd received from her newly rejuvenated body had drained away. Despite her youthful appearance, she felt as though she'd turned back to the lonely old woman that pined for her dead husband.

In life, she hadn't been able to keep Goku with her, and now, because of her, he no longer existed in the afterlife. Was it just bad luck, or was it her destiny to be alone? It was a ridiculous notion to entertain, but she'd been separated from Goku so many times that she couldn't help but think that there was some sort of conspiracy against her.

Perhaps it was fate's way of telling her that she was never meant to have him in the first place. If she hadn't come to the Martial Arts Tournament to remind him of his "promise," chances were that they never would have married…

And maybe he never would have gotten into this mess.

For the millionth time, Goku's features haunted her mind. The memories that Sita had shown her of his torment were too fresh to be forgotten. Every time she closed her eyes, she could still see Goku's heartbroken expression when he overheard her say that she hated him…

That was most painful thing she had to cope with: Goku still loved her, but he died thinking that she hated him.

The more she thought about her treatment of Goku before he died, the more she regretted it. She distanced herself from him so that it would be easier for her to let him go back to training Uub. She had been convinced that she was doing the best thing for the both of them. Only now did she realize that she'd unconsciously done what was best for _her_, not for him. She hadn't given a single thought as to how it would affect him.

_How could I have let this happen? _she thought miserably. _I just wanted to protect myself from getting hurt. What good did it do? I still felt worse every time he left to train Uub. And worse, I hurt him too…_

You didn't know that he overheard you, a voice in her head pointed out. _ Heshould have told you._

That's no excuse, she thought, shaking her head. _I should have been honest with him from the beginning! Even if it wouldn't have stopped him from leaving, anything was better than letting him think that I hated him._

She shifted her sitting position slightly so that one of her legs dangled towards the ground. If only she had reached Sita sooner, she might have saved Goku…

But King Kai and Baba were right: there was nothing else she could have done. She had tried her best, only she hadn't been strong enough to save him. She was lucky to have even survived the battle with Sita. And she wouldn't have won, let alone found Sita's tower, if it hadn't been for Misai.

Whenever Chi-Chi hadn't thought of Goku --- rare as those moments were --- she thought of Misai, stuck back in Hell. It wasn't fair that she still had to be in Hell, in spite of being a decent person. She hoped that the ogres hadn't thrown her back in prison.

__

Misai was right, she thought miserably. _We defeated her, but we still lost. Misai has to spend eternity in Hell…and I'll never see Goku again. How can I possibly spend eternity without the man I love?_

At least Goku was at peace; he didn't have to feel pain anymore. She, on the other hand, would have to be alone forever…

Maybe…it would have been better if Sita killed me too…

She immediately felt ashamed of herself. How could she even think that? Goku sacrificed himself so that she could exist. Thinking that she should have died was dishonoring his sacrifice. She couldn't do that… not after everything else she had done to him.

It didn't matter though. Goku was never going to come back. As painful and difficult as it was, she had to accept that…

And yet she would have given anything for another chance.

Just then, she heard footsteps from nearby. She quickly lowered her head, drawing her long black hair around her face like a curtain. As long as she remained quiet and didn't move, no one would recognize her.

The footsteps drew nearer with every passing second. Suddenly, they stopped. Everything fell silent.

Chi-Chi was struck by the eerie sensation that someone was watching her... Had her mother or father found out she was there? Curious, she pushed her hair out of her face and looked at the ground below. Her insides froze.

Goku was standing under the tree, looking up at her.

Tears filled her eyes. No… it couldn't be him. King Kai made it absolutely clear that a person couldn't come back after being destroyed in the afterlife. Her sorrow was causing her to see hallucinations, trying to lead her into thinking that he was alive. Yes, that had to be it.

But he looked so _real_…

__

He **isn't** real! she thought sternly, as though trying to convince herself. _Kami, I can't keep doing this! I can't keep thinking that there's the faintest chance that he's alive!_

She shut her eyes, willing it to stop haunting her and disappear. After a few moments, she opened them again.

Goku still stood there.

Chi-Chi felt as though she were about to have a heart attack. Could it possibly be him? She didn't know what to think. She was almost afraid to let herself believe… for it was a trick, the sorrow would become more than she could stand…

__

I saw him die! she thought frantically, unconsciously leaning forward to get a closer look. _I felt the last of his spirit energy go into me! His halo was gone…and now it's back? There was no chance at all that he could have survived ---_

Her thoughts broke off as she belatedly realized that she leaned out too far. She lost her balance and fell off the tree.

But instead of hitting the ground, a pair of strong arms caught her at the last second. Numb with shock, she turned her head to see her husband's face several inches from her own. He wouldn't have been able to do that if he wasn't real.

She stared at him, too stunned to say anything. _He's back,_ was all that she could think. _He's really back…_

Goku quickly set her down. His face was a mask of uncertainty, as though he didn't know what to say to her. After a few moments, he finally broke the silence. "Are… are you all right?" he asked awkwardly.

Chi-Chi was unable to believe what she was hearing._ Was she all right?_ Goku had spent the rest of his life thinking that his own family hated him, was killed by an evil sorceress and tortured in Hell for twenty-five years, almost faded into nonexistence permanently…

And _he_ wanted to know if _she_ was all right?

Without a word, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, long and hard, on the lips.

This caught Goku completely off guard. Apparently, he didn't know what kind of welcome to expect from his wife. After everything that had happened, it was understandable. Chi-Chi was almost afraid that he might pull away. She needn't have worried; soon enough, she felt him relax, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

The kiss was one of the most passionate and the most pure that they had ever shared. For it held all the longing and love Chi-Chi had held in her heart ever since he had died. It was like receiving water after a long trek in the desert. She no longer felt old; the emptiness and weariness had vanished, reviving her spirit. She felt --- there was no other word for it --- _reborn_.

How could she have tried to push him away? The old saying was right: absence really _did_ make the heart grow fonder.

When they broke apart, Chi-Chi burst into tears, overwhelmed with happiness. It was a good thing that Goku was holding on to her, because her legs could no longer support her.

"Oh Goku!" Chi-Chi sobbed. "Goku, thank Kami, you're alive!"

"Um… not technically," Goku replied with a small laugh.

Half laughing, half crying, she buried her face into his shoulder. "I thought that I'd never see you again! I've missed you so much…"

"I missed you too," he whispered, running her fingers through her hair. "More than you'll ever know." She could feel something hot and wet soaking the top of her head, and she hugged him even tighter.

All too soon, Chi-Chi found herself reluctantly pulling away from him. There were so many things that she wanted to tell him… but the questions as to how this miracle could have happened drove them completely out of her mind.

"How could this have happened?" she asked shakily. "You were still dead when we escaped the tower!"

"I was," Goku explained, "but I guess breaking Sita's staff had a delayed effect on me. It gave me back all the spirit energy she took from me."

"How did you escape the tower? It collapsed!"

"Your friend, Misai, dug me out."

"Misai?" she repeated, bewildered. "How did she knew that you'd come back?"

"She didn't," Goku told her. "She said that she just went back to give my body a proper burial." He laughed. "You should have seen the look on her face…"

Chi-Chi was astonished. Why would Misai want to bury Goku? She hated men…

Then again, she did seem to have a change of heart about him the last time Chi-Chi had seen her. Still, it didn't seem likely that she would let go of her issues with men anytime soon.

"Anyway, I used Instant Transmission to get her and me to Snake Way," Goku continued. "King Yemma found out about how she helped you, so she was allowed to leave Hell. She's at the Grand Kai's planet right now."

"That's great!" Chi-Chi said enthusiastically. She was glad that Misai wasn't in Hell anymore; even though her life on Vishnu had been awful, at least she'd have the chance to be happy in the afterlife.

Her smile faded slightly as she realized what had to be done next. The excitement of Goku coming back had almost made her forget everything that had happened between them before Sita. Now was the time to tell him the truth.

With a sigh, she took his hand. "I owe you a nice long talk," she said quietly.

Together, they sat under the tree. "I know that you overheard me yelling about you to Goten that day," she began, getting right to the point. "I… I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it; it was just something that slipped out. I was so upset that you left again, just when I was convinced that you were home for good."

"Chi-Chi, about that, I'm sorry ---" Goku started to apologize, but Chi-Chi held up a hand to silence him.

"No, let me finish. When you came back, I wasn't as upset… only I was still hurt. I knew that you weren't going to stay for long, so I thought it would be easier to let you go if I wasn't so affectionate with you. That's why I acted the way I did…"

Goku looked troubled. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

"What was the point?" Chi-Chi asked wearily. "Even if I told you my feelings, would you have stopped training Uub?"

"No," he admitted, "but I would have listened. And I would have come home more often if you wanted."

She shook her head. "I thought I would have got in the way of Uub's training."

"No, you wouldn't have," he said gently. "I didn't _want_ to leave. I asked for Buu to be reincarnated as a good person because with his power, he would have been able to protect the Earth from anything when Vegeta and I were gone. And I did want to spar with him to see who was stronger," he added truthfully.

"But when we fought at the tournament, I hadn't counted on him being so inexperienced. So I thought that training him was the right thing to do. Maybe I should have thought it out more before I left; I just assumed that you'd be all right with it.

"I really did miss all of you… but between hearing what you said, and everybody except Goten and Pan not talking to me, I thought that…"

"We hated you?" she finished. She shook her head vehemently. "None of us did. Everything Sita told you was a lie --- I never asked her to kill you!" she added on a sudden thought. "No matter what you thought, I never would have done anything like that to you!"

"I never believed that," he assured her.

She was very taken aback by this. "You didn't? Why?"

"Because I know you," he replied simply. "Even if you did hate me, I knew that you wouldn't hate me enough to want me dead. You never would have gone to someone as evil as Sita just to get back at me. You're a good, kind woman, and I never doubted that for a second."

Chi-Chi was so stunned by this that she could barely speak. "R-Really?" she stammered.

"Really," Goku nodded. "Who am I supposed to believe: a witch who tortured me for twenty-five years, or my wife?"

Chi-Chi smiled tearfully. In spite of the strange similarities, they were nothing like Rama and Sita.

He squeezed her hand. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to hurt you. You and our family are just as important to me as Uub's training was."

Despite already knowing this, it felt better to hear it from him. "I know that," she replied. "It was hard for me to accept, but eventually, I understood. So did everyone else."

She took his face in her hands. "I could never hate you," she said tenderly. "I love you."

Goku smiled, and Chi-Chi remembered how much she had missed seeing his smile. "I love you too," he murmured, drawing her in his arms.

Chi-Chi closed her eyes, savoring his warmth. This was the moment she had been waiting for. She'd dreamed about it for so long, yet she felt that it had been better than of the dreams she had…

And to think, less than an hour ago, she was thought that it would never happen. How it was possible for someone to be so miserable one moment, and so happy the next?

"So what now?" Goku asked after a while.

"Actually, I was thinking that I'd stay with you on the Grand Kai's planet," Chi-Chi said thoughtfully, not bothering to open her eyes. "That's where you were going to go before Sita captured you… and that's where I was "

"Oh, I'm not going back there," Goku replied cheerfully.

"You're not?" Chi-Chi's eyes opened, staring at him in shock. She had to be hearing things. Goku loved being on the Grand Kai's planet; he talked about it all the time when he came back to life. Why would he pass up the opportunity to go back there?

"Well, at least not to stay there permanently," Goku clarified. He let go of her and stood up. "I have to take care of something really quick."

"What? But, Goku…" she started to protest, but was cut off by Goku giving her a quick kiss.

"Don't worry, I'll be right back," he promised. "I'll explain everything when I come back." With that, he put two fingers to his forehead and vanished.

_What's keeping him? _Misai wondered anxiously. She was still inside the Grand Kai's house, looking out the windows for any sign of Goku. It had been quite a while since he had left to go find Chi-Chi and she really wanted to know what was going on.

Misai bit her lip, remembering how desperate Chi-Chi had been to find her husband. She'd be happy to see him again, but her happiness would be short-lived when she found out that she couldn't join him on the Grand Kai's planet.

_Some things never change, _Misai thought bitterly. _After everything Princess went through to save him, she's just going to have to contend with visiting her own husband!_

On the other hand, Goku said that she wasn't going to be alone, right before she left. What was he up to?

Just then, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She whirled around to see Goku standing behind her. "Hi, there!" he said brightly.

Misai leapt back, startled. "Geez, don't use that Instant Transmission thing to sneak up on me like that!" she hissed. And then: "Did you find her?"

"Yep," Goku nodded.

"Is she all right?" she demanded.

"She is now," he replied.

Misai stared at Goku suspiciously. He sounded too happy. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have minded; he had the right to be happy after suffering for so long. Yet a while ago, he'd been really upset about not being able to be with Chi-Chi. Why did he have the sudden change of mood?

"What's going to happen?" she asked impatiently, her hands on her hips. "Can she stay on the Grand Kai's planet or not?"

"She can't," he replied, "but it doesn't matter, because I'm going to stay on the good planet with her."

Misai's eyes widened with astonishment. She hadn't been expecting this. "You are?"

"Yeah!" Goku said, giving Misai an incredulous look. "After everything she went through, what did you _think _I was going to do? Tell her that I'm alive, then break it to her that Grand Kai won't let her stay with me, but she can visit whenever she wants?"

Misai felt a stab of guilt. Privately, she _did_ think that Goku would do that, although she had to admit that she was beginning to like him.

"So anyway, you told me that you wanted to be a warrior, right?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Yes," she answered, unsure of where this was going.

"Well, now you have your chance. You can train with King Kai --- he's a good teacher, you'll learn a lot from him. There are a lot of warriors here you can spar with. They're very nice, even the men," he added, reading her look perfectly. "And there's a tournament held here about every one thousand years. The winner receives a lesson from the Grand Kai…"

"And you plan on competing?" Misai guessed.

Goku grinned. "You bet! But I can visit this planet any time before then, and I can take Chi-Chi with me. So in a few years, we can stop by to check on you."

Misai raised her eyebrows in confusion. "Why?"

"Well… I was kind of hoping that we could be friends," Goku said, scratching the back of his head. "After all, you're already Chi-Chi's friend, aren't you?"

It was more of a statement than a question that she didn't bother to deny it. "Well… yes, I suppose she is," she admitted, looking at the floor. In spite of herself, she added, rather shyly, "Maybe we could be friends too."

"I hope so," he replied sincerely. "I'd better go." He offered her his hand. "Save me a fight at the next tournament?"

"I will," she said, and without the slightest bit of hesitation, she shook his hand. _I doubt I'd win, _she thought wryly to herself. _Still, it's worth a try._

"Okay, see you in a few years then!" He put two fingers up to his forehead and immediately vanished.

Misai stood there rather thoughtfully. _I guess the Princess was right, _she mused. _He wasn't so bad, really…_

She would never forget what Rhakishi and Amar did to her, but perhaps it was time to let go of the past. She had wasted plenty of centuries in Hell brooding over painful memories. Although her life had been terrible, she could still salvage her afterlife.

Besides, she would have to swallow her pride if she were going to train with the warriors --- from what she could see while watching them fight outside, most of the best fighters were men.

She smiled to herself. There was enough time to change that.

Chi-Chi waited patiently under the tree. She was a little bit annoyed about Goku leaving again so soon, but she wasn't mad. He said that he would be back, and she trusted him. Though she couldn't help wondering what exactly he was doing…

Sure enough, Goku reappeared in front of her. "What's going on?" she asked, standing up.

"I just went to say good-bye to Misai," Goku explained. "I told her that we'd come back to see her in a few years or so."

"But how come we aren't going to stay on the Grand Kai's planet?" Chi-Chi asked curiously. "I mean, it doesn't matter to me, only I thought you liked it on Grand Kai's planet."

"I do," Goku replied. "Actually, I wanted to take you there with me, but Grand Kai apparently doesn't allow people who weren't fighters to stay there."

"What?" Chi-Chi cried.

"Hey, it's all right," he said soothingly, putting his hands on her shoulders. "I already told you that I'm not going back. I'm going to stay here with you."

She blinked in surprise. "You do?"

"Sure!" he said. "This is a really nice place. There are lots of trees and plants… it kind of reminds me of the forest where we used to live. And there are a lot of people we knew who will come here someday…."

This should have made her happy, yet it didn't. "What about training?" she asked worriedly. "What about fighting? Goku, I don't want you to give up what you want to do just for _me_. I want to be with you more than anything, but I want you to be happy too!"

"I can still train here," he pointed out. "Besides, I went to Grand Kai before I left to find you. He said that I go there to visit, and to participate in the next tournament. That way, I can bring you with me."

"Are you sure?" she asked, still troubled. "Because it's all right with me if you want to stay ---"

"Chi-Chi, I'm dead," he said firmly, stilling her protest. "I've got all the time in the world to train. But I don't want to spend my afterlife without you. There's no one else I want to spend eternity with."

Needless to say, Chi-Chi was very moved by his words. "There's no one else I want to be with either," she said warmly, embracing him. She was about to kiss him when she suddenly remembered something. "Hey, Goku, guess what?"

"What?" Goku inquired.

"I met my mother!" she told him excitedly. "She's here on the good planet with my dad. I told her all about you… and she'd really like to meet you."

"Wow!" he exclaimed, amazed. "Do you want to go see her now?"

She thought for a moment. "Maybe later," she said, smiling rather slyly. "Like you said, we've got all the time in the world…" She gave him another passionate kiss.

For the first time since she had died, Chi-Chi was finally at peace. She was with Goku now, and though it had taken a long, perilous journey to find him, she felt that it had been worthwhile. As long as she was with him, she knew, deep down, that everything would be all right from now on.

The End.

A/N: I really hope that the ending wasn't too corny; I'm not that good with romance. Anyway, thanks for reading the fic everyone!

Chocobo Andy: Here's your update.

Nisha: I thought that reviewers would be curious to see how Goku felt about everything that had happened. I wasn't sure if it was in character because he's not a character who shows a lot of angst in the anime or manga as far as I can remember. But I did think he'd be sad after that much time of torture, not to mention the fact that he thought his whole family hated him. He's better now though :)

Super Saiyan 4 Chichi: If you think about it, it wasn't that evil, especially compared to the other cliffhangers in the story.

Sakura123: I don't really like the Grand Kai either. It's weird, you'd think the Grand Kai would be really strong, but in the episodes with the Other World Tournament, he was so lazy that he used the fact that both Pikkon and Goku touched the ceiling to disqualify them, therefore postponing their lesson for another thousand years. As for Misai, the key thing to remember is that she didn't know him. She just assumed he was terrible because he was a man, and the fact that he left his family to train a child didn't change her opinion. But after she saw him sacrifice his spirit energy for Chi-Chi and met him herself, she decided to let the good things outweigh the bad.

Moon girl 16: Yes, he's going to stay with Chi-Chi.

Caryl Mc: Ironic, isn't it? LOL! Luckily, Goku had an easier time looking for Chi-Chi.

Misao: Yes, it's good that Goku's alive; I didn't really want this story to have an unhappy ending.

Woman of the Dunedain: Glad to see that you're happy! I'm a big Goku fan too.

Fan: Oh, I think he handled it rather well.

Kakkabrat: Sorry, I had to let Goku find out the truth about what happened first. You didn't want him to see Chi-Chi again with the wrong idea, did you?

Jessica C: Yes, this is the conclusion. ::sigh:: It took me forever to finish this, but it was a lot of fun to write.

Candy: In the Majin Buu saga, Chi-Chi was sent to the good planet after she was killed. Even though she still is strong, she was only a warrior for the first half of her life, but after she married Goku, she gave up fighting to be a wife and a mother, which is the reason why she wasn't allowed to stay on the Grand Kai's planet. Training Goten didn't necessarily count as being a fighter.

Clarobell: You're right! Ten points to you!

Goki-chan: Oh, how I hate GT. It's so inconsistent with DB and DBZ, not to mention it got the characters all wrong. I'd go on, but enough space has been wasted on that topic.

I won't tell: Goku had to find out the truth before he reunited with Chi-Chi. He got his big hug and kiss though! :)

Z-Man: Thanks, that was something I had to keep working on until I thought it made sense.

Annyong: Thank you!

Lady Athena X: Sorry for the wait, but I was really busy with summer classes. They're over now, but it was a lot of fun. Once Misai actually got to know Goku, she thought he was an okay guy. She, Goku, and Chi-Chi are going to be all right now, as you can see.

Sandrilene fa Toren: Nice name! LOL, calm down, I updated!

Kioko: No offense, but I like Harry Potter as much as DBZ. Thank you for all of your compliments.

Dakforest: It took me a while to write this chapter, but it's done. Was "Dragons of Tribeta-sei" the one where Goten's guardian angel takes him to another world or something like that? Because I think I've read it, and it's really good!


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